There are many ways that we present information about
environmental issues as they relate to the world, and
especially to the Lake Champlain Basin, to ECHO visitors. A
visual method for delivering this information is our
portable exhibit "workbench" entitled Current Waves. Right
now, through a program in conjunction with University of
Vermont entitled Emerging Threats, ECHO is highlighting
three separate topics of Lake science: Fisheries Biology,
Phosphorus, and Paleolimnology. The topic has just changed
from exploring phosphorus and blue-green algae to
paleolimnology. Paleolimnology is the study of lake
sediments, which allows scientists to learn about the
environmental history of a lake as well as its surroundings.
Scientists collect cores of sediments containing horizontal
layers - like rings of a tree - the layers contain small
fossils, pollen, and chemical variables.
Recently
there was a news item on National Public Radio: "Fungus
Provides Clues to North American Extinctions" by Richard
Harris.
"One of the great mysteries about North America is what
killed off woolly mammoths and other exotic animals that
roamed the land after the last ice age. Ideas have ranged
from a comet impact and climate change to human hunters. A
study published Friday, November 20 in
Science
Magazine provides new clues about this —
cleverly deduced from samples of a fungus that grew on the
animals' dung.”
The scientists study a certain species of fungus, spores
of which end up in lake sediments that date back some 15,000
years. While this specific research happened in Wisconsin,
scientists from UVM are studying sediment cores as one
portion of the Emerging Threats program. You can read the
full story at http://bit.ly/2lIFw6, then come in to ECHO and learn
more about Lake Champlain sediment samples at our workbench
on the exhibit floor.
We always try to keep our science information current and
love your input. You can
e-mail us
information about science news and research studies that you
think relate to any of our exhibits or animals at ECHO.
1.802.864.1848
