Saw Mill River Fish Study Completed!
The Saunders High School students who have been working with the Saw Mill River Coalition on a comprehensive study of fish species in the Saw Mill conducted their last survey in September, as part of the Saw Mill River BioBlitz. This proved a satisfying end to a successful year-long project which involved over 30 Saunders High School students. From the 30 students who were trained by Dr. Joseph Rachlin and Dr. Barbara Warkentine of Lehman College and Mr. Harry Hall from Saunders High School, a group of core fish study students developed. These students were especially interested in the project and participated in various surveys, training their peers when new students decided to participate.
In the last survey, members of the core group who had not yet graduated and left for college, trained college students from Sarah Lawrence College and students from Riverside High School to seine for and identify fish species at six different sites along the River. This group performed as the fish experts for the BioBlitz study and their data was included amongst information collected by professional scientists who specialized in a variety of different areas.
One Saunders High School student, Raquel Romero, took the initiative to do her senior thesis “Tech-Prep” project on the fish study and generated a sophisticated, comprehensive report of the findings, comparing them to past studies.
To view Raquel’s report and colorful presentation, click on the links below:
- Fish Study Introduction
- Fish Study Report Analysis
- Fish Study Report Data
- Fish Study Presentation Part 1
- Fish Study Presentation Part 2
Through discussions with Harry Hall, the Saunders teacher who coordinated the study, and local experts from the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Office of Fisheries, Coalition staff generated a Protocol for Future Fish Studies. Please feel free to read the protocol and check back in the spring for follow-up study results.