Next Generation of Hudson River Educators 2024: Exploring the Pathway

Diving into a Summer of Sampling

A Look at the Species of Piermont 

The Hudson River Field Station’s unique location, situated a mile out into the Hudson River and adjacent to Piermont Marsh, makes it a remarkable place to study the biodiversity of the Hudson Estuary and potential impacts of climate change on fish and invertebrate populations. Over the course of 27 sampling days, the Next Gen interns seined in 673 fish and 139 crabs encompassing 11 fish species and 3 crab species along with a variety of other invertebrate species including leidyi comb jellies and moon jellies. All species were identified and their abundances were recorded and submitted into our comprehensive database for later analysis. Many of the seines featured common species caught in Piermont such as striped bass, mummichogs, and atlantic silversides, however, some seines featured species that had yet to be caught by our Field Station team before such as the gray (mangrove) snapper, crevalle jacks and a lookdown! Both gray snappers and crevalle jacks are marine species whose juveniles spend a relatively short period of time in estuaries as they grow and mature and we were lucky enough to document their time in the Hudson Estuary. Lookdowns are marine strays likely blown in with the tropical storm's strong winds pushing up from the south. More frequent storms occurring as a result of climate change could increase the occurrence of marine species being pushed into the Hudson with strong winds and waves. 

The Chemical River 

The dynamic nature of the Hudson estuary means that the chemical properties including salinity, temperature, and nutrients are in flux with the change of seasons and physical conditions. These chemical changes have an impact on the species and biodiversity of the Hudson as each species whether plant or animal requires a specific range of environmental factors to thrive. Climate change is expected to alter the chemical properties of aquatic ecosystems, raising water temperatures and subsequently lowering dissolved oxygen, lowering pH and causing excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate which can be flushed into waterways as runoff from large-scale rain events. The Next Gen interns diligently measured water temperatures, salinity levels, pH, alkalinity, and nitrate and phosphate levels to look for potential changes as a result of climate change and anomalous weather patterns.

Small but Mighty! A Look at the Plankton in the Brackish Zone of the Hudson Estuary

Despite their small size, phytoplankton and zooplankton play a vital role in the Hudson Estuary ecosystem as a source of nutrients and food for small fish, crustaceans, and the broader food web. Building off of the initial sampling done by the 2023 Next Gen interns, the 2024 interns further explored the plankton community present in the dynamic brackish section of the Hudson estuary.  They collected consistent data utilizing a plankton pump to gather water samples to analyze under microscopes, finding interesting microscopic plankton such as crab larvae and small bivalves which had not been documented in the 2023 sampling season. The Next Gen interns collected metadata including salinity, water temperature and turbidity to understand how these parameters may influence the quantity and species of plankton in the area. Understanding how these parameters influence the plankton community in the brackish zone of the Hudson will allow for a better understanding of how climate change will affect the plankton communities of the Hudson and subsequently the rest of the food web.  

Marine Debris and Microplastics, looking at the various sizes of plastic pollution in the Hudson

Marine debris, or marine litter, is a global problem that threatens and harms marine and aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Using an adapted protocol based on NOAA’s marine debris shoreline assessment protocols, the Next-Gen interns assessed the northern shoreline of Piermont Pier for the presence of marine debris and analyzed the major debris types. They made sure to collect and dispose of all the debris they encountered during their survey.  A substantial amount of the marine debris found was plastic pollution. Plastic pollution and its smaller counterpart, microplastics, pose a large health risk to the ecosystem and human health. In order to understand how microplastics are impacting the Hudson estuary near Piermont, the Next Gen interns regularly sampled in 3 distinct locations along Piermont Pier to investigate the prevalence and potential sources of microplastics in our area of the estuary. They found that plastic films and fragments accounted for the majority of microplastics found in samples across the three sampling locations. To increase awareness about their findings and the prevalent issue that marine debris and microplastics pose, the Next Gen interns created infographics to share with the community and their peers.

Tuesdays were for Collaborations

Every Tuesday the Next Gen Interns were joined by the Polar Climate Ambassadors Interns (Polar CAP), a group of 9 high school students focusing on learning and communicating the importance of the polar regions and their ties to climate change. Together they learned from a variety of professionals who came down to the Hudson River Field Station to teach the interns about the importance of the work they are doing focused on climate change.

Tuesdays Speakers 

Dr. James Davis, a Lamont Research Professor who specializes in positional and physical geodesy and sea-level, joined the interns to teach them about sea level, how it is changing and what is propagating these changes. The Polar CAP & Next Gen interns learned how sea level will impact the Hudson Estuary and more specifically Piermont where our field station is located.

Ph.D. candidate Karlee Price came all the way down from University of Buffalo to share the work she is doing in Greenland focused on understanding past climate and how sea level has looked in the past using sediment cores from lakes in Greenland. The interns got a chance to analyze actual lake sediment cores from Greenland and explore how macrofossils in the cores can indicate past sea level.

With Dr. Clara Chang, a recent Ph.D. graduate from LDEO, the interns explored the history of sea level in Long Island and the Hudson, specifically looking at Piermont Marsh, and utilizing sediment cores to understand the past. The interns got a chance to use an XRF, x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and understand its uses in analyzing sediment cores to uncover conditions of the past.

Wrapping up our extraordinary Tuesdays was Emily Marcet, an interpretative planning consultant from WolfTree Designs. Emily, whom we have worked with in the past in creating the design and installation of our Hudson River Stewards Wall currently on display in the field station, came to speak with the interns about the process and importance of considering your audience when creating exhibits, displays, and educational materials. The field station team along with our summer interns will be working alongside Emily Marcet over the next few years to create a new display for the Hudson River Field Station focused on sea level rise. Stay tuned!

Sharing Back with the Community 

Hosting Field Trips

The Next Gen Interns practiced their science communication skills and shared the Hudson knowledge they had gathered throughout the program while hosting 3 different groups at the Hudson River Field Station. They were joined by Dominican University’s SOHLIS Environmental Summer Camp where they led fellow high school students through various activities to teach them about the Hudson estuary, its unique characteristics, how estuaries function, how to measure turbidity, and how to go seining and identify different Hudson fish and invertebrates. Shortly after, they teamed up with the Polar CAP interns to host a group of high school students from the INSPIRE program. During this field trip, high school students rotated through a series of stations where they learned about sea level rise, what albedo is and its role in the warming of Earth’s polar regions, the importance of oysters in the Hudson and the risk ocean acidification poses to shell-building organisms, how to conduct water chemical tests, how the Hudson estuary functions and how to seine and identify Hudson species. Lastly, they hosted a group of elementary aged students and their parents from the Anobo Project. These individuals from China were in New York presenting to the United Nations in the No Boundaries International Youth Exhibition and had a chance to stop by the field station for a fun-filled day of seining, learning about hudson brackish ecosystems, and measuring turbidity. 

Outreach Events: Science Saturdays

The Next Gen Interns participated in our weekly outreach events, Science Saturdays, and engaged with the public by getting them involved in some of our summer sampling and educating them about various Hudson focused and climate topics. Science Saturdays were a great way for the interns to practice their ability to engage and teach the public spanning all ages about various environmental topics.They interacted with and educated over 400 people across these events and ended their time in the program as expert science communicators. 

Creation of Science Posters 

To culminate their time in the program the Next Gen interns worked in teams to create scientific posters focused on different aspects of how climate change is affecting the Hudson estuary and its watershed. The interns delved deeper into the data they collected to help uncover stories and increase our understanding of climate impacts.

Projects included:

• Exploring how moon jellies and Leidy’s comb jellies are increasing in number with increasing water temperatures, a phenomenon that is being documented in other marine systems and how increased populations can lead to overgrazing of the plankton communities in the Hudson and deplete food sources for other Hudson species. 
• Assessing the plankton community in the brackish zone of the Hudson Estuary to understand how they are dependent on salinity and water temperature, parameters that can be altered by climate change. 
• How sea level rise and other impacts of climate change might have disproportional impacts do to varied factors in our communities.

What did the 2024 Next-Gen interns feel they gained from the internship program?

• “I just want to put it simply, more knowledge.”

• “I gained knowledge I would not get anywhere else and made friends who share that knowledge"

• “I now know what I really want to do in life thanks to this program"

• “I learned how to take samples and analyze data"

• “I gained friends"

• “I loved learning to seine, it was a very new and interesting experience that I never thought I would get the opportunity to explore.”

• “I’ve gained a lot of connections that I will love to continue to learn from.”

• “There has been so much that I’ve learned in this program and I’m grateful for this experience”

• “I’ve learned so much about different people and different types of research and sampling.”

  
   

We are looking forward to working with another great cohort of high school students and seeing what interesting findings await us in summer 2025!