Queens students study ecological health of the East River
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
More than 50 Queens and
Manhattan students got the
chance to study the ecological
system of the East River,
as part of the New York State
Department of Environmental
Conservation’s (DEC) “A Day
in the Life of the Hudson &
Harbor” event on Oct. 24.
Chemistry students from
Vanguard High School in
Manhattan and seventh-graders
from Hunter’s Point Community
Middle School in Long
Island City gathered at Gantry
Plaza State Park to examine
the water’s chemistry, identify
macroinvertebrates and fish,
and observe oyster colonies.
They were sponsored by
the New York City Department
of Environmental Protection
(DEP), according to a press
release.
“New York Harbor is a critical
part of the Hudson River
estuary and over the last decade
DEP has invested more
than $10 billion to improve
water quality and restore wetlands
and adjacent grasslands,
helping to bring back native
fish populations and allow for
greater recreational use,” DEP
Commissioner Vincent Sapienza
said.
Sapienza added that DEC
is proud to partner with DEC
to “bring this valuable program
to thousands of young
New Yorkers and to inspire
stewards who will ensure that
future generations can enjoy
all the Hudson River has to offer.
” At the event, the seventhgraders
and middle schoolers
worked together to “measure
the river’s currents and perform
tests to determine the
level of turbidity, pH, salinity
and dissolved oxygen in the
water.”
The data collected by the
more approximately 5,000 students
form 104 different New
York schools will be analyzed
and posted on the “A Day in
the Life of the Hudson & Harbor”
website, according to a
press release.
The educational event,
which is part of DEC’s Hudson
River Estuary Program
and sponsored by Columbia
University’s Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory, is now in
its 17th year. Courtesy of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
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26 TIMESLEDGER, NOV. 8-14, 2019 QNS.COM
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