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Current Events at the Biological Field Station
Click Here for Recent Publications
May 21, 2012: The Plan for the Management of the Otsego Lake Watershed is available on the Otsego Lake Information page; this plan was completed by the Otsego Lake Watershed Council in April of 1998 and updated in 2007 by the Otsego County Water Quality Coordinating Committee. The plan has been made available here as a reference for other lake and watershed communities that may be in the early stages of developing a plan to manage their lake or watershed. More information about lake and watershed management is available from the BFS. 607-547-8778.
May 7, 2012: The Biological Field Station's 44th Annual Report is now available in its entirety through our Publications page. The publication includes a total of 29 submissions detailing research and monitoring conducted through the BFS during 2011. Each submission can be downloaded individually, or the full report is available as a single document. Hard copies of the full report are available from the BFS. 607-547-8778.
May 5, 2012: Congratulations to those selected for 2012 Summer Research Internships at the BFS!
March 23, 2012: The first water quality profiles of the year have been recorded for Otsego Lake - see the Otsego Lake Information page for temperature, dissolved oxygen, and water clarity information.
March 16, 2012: Applications are no longer being accepted for Undergraduate Summer Internships. Successful applicants will be notified in early April.
February 21, 2012: The State of Canadarago Lake, 2011 is complete and is available as an Adobe .pdf download from our Publications page. The report presents the results of 2008-2010 monitoring by BFS researchers in addition to fisheries research conducted by the Cornell University Warmwater Fisheries Unit, in collaboration with the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, between 1990 and 2011. Included in the report are updates to research conducted in from 1969 to 1976 and interpretations of all results as well as discussion of changes in the lake's ecology over time.
May 16, 2011: Undergraduate summer interns have started to arrive at the BFS for the summer 2011 field season! Congrats to the 7 undergraduate and 2 high school students accepted for 2011 summer internships. The undergraduate students represent three SUNY campuses: SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY ESF. Their research will send them throughout the lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands of Otsego County - check the Current Projects page for information on their research as the summer progresses.
April 8, 2011: Applications are no longer being accepted for 2011 undergraduate or high school internships.
March 29, 2011: The Field Station was awarded a National Science Foundation grant (Field Stations and Marine Laboratories Program) to fund the a project entitled "“RUI: Implementing the Otsego Lake Watershed Plan – Enhancement of Lake Access, Laboratory and Field Instrumentation and Associated Research.” The grant proposal was submitted under the direction of Dr. Bill Harman. A brief description of the project is here:
The grant award will support (1) the construction of a series of weirs in tributaries to Otsego Lake on BFS lands (the headwaters of the Susquehanna watershed in the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin) to facilitate long-term stream hydrologic, sediment and nutrient mass balance monitoring and analysis; (2) the purchase of four boats to replace those acquired with funding from a 1970 NSF grant, which enabled BFS access to Otsego Lake, supporting 40 years of continuous research and training activity; and (3) acquisition of instrumentation to refine acoustic evaluation of Otsego Lake fish populations, to collect fish characterizing tributary water quality, and for analysis of the aquatic biota in both the Lake and its tributaries. These improvements will directly enhance BFS faculty, staff and student research involving impacts of land use practices and introduced species on water quality; nutrient availability and cycling; the evaluation of inputs by onsite wastewater treatment systems and the mitigation thereof; population dynamics of zoo- and phyto- plankton, macrobenthic invertebrates and fish parasites; fisheries biology and management; and biocontrol of exotic forage fish and nuisance aquatic plants.
March 16, 2011: The application deadline has been extended for Undergraduate Summer Internships in Field and Environmental Biology. See our Internships page for further information.
March 11, 2011: A new Master of Science in Lake Management Program has been approved to be offered by the SUCO Biology Department, beginning in Fall 2011! Stay tuned for more details - a description of the program and application information is available from the Graduate Studies Office. See the announcement here.
February 18, 2011: The original printing of The Fishes of Otsego Lake is now available in digital format via the link to Occasional Papers on our Publications page. Older documents are being scanned for posting from the present back through time and by special request. Recently added documents include a 1994 report on the characteristics of urban snow and Reporter newsletters back to 2001. Additional documents will be made available over the coming months.
January 20, 2011: Older BFS publications are now available for download via our Publications page. Documents are being scanned for posting from the present back through time. Recently added documents include Annual Report submissions from 2003 through 1999 and The Reporter newsletter back through 2001. Additional documents will be made available over the coming months, so check back often!
January 14, 2011: Otsego Lake has frozen! As of Friday morning ice is covering the entire surface of the lake, with the exception of areas kept open by agitators and some stream mouths.
January 10, 2011: 2011 Internship Application materials are available for download on the Internships page.
November 11, 2010:10,000 to 12,000 fall pond finglering walleye were stocked in Otsego Lake from the Springfield Public Landing. On average, the fish were 5-6" in length. Each fish was marked with a fin-clip to enable researchers to distinguish this years' stock from other cohorts. BFS and SUNY Cobleskill Staff and students were on hand to clip and stock the fish. Funding for this effort was provided by Otsego County Conservation Association and Otsego 2000.
August 1, 2010: Otsego Lake Clean-Up Day!! Starting around 11:00am BFS Faculty, Staff and Interns began collecting lake-related debris and waste from lake-side properties via the BFS research vessel Anadontoides. This year was the 38th annual clean-up day, and yielded the least amount of "trash" on record!
July 20, 2010: Otsego Lake Water Quality Data for profiles observed July 1st and 15th are available on the Otsego Lake Information page.
July 16, 2010: The Otsego County Conservation Association held a dinner to honor Dr. Harman "for his personal and professional commitment to the preservation and protection of Otsego Lake, the headwaters of teh Susquehanna River". The event also served to establish the Willard N. Harman OCCA Biological Field Station Internship Endowment Fund. More information on the dinner and donations to the fund can be found at the OCCA's website: www.occainfo.org Photos from the event will be available in the coming weeks.
July 15, 2010: Starry stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa), an exotic charoid (macroalgae) species, was found in Otsego Lake for the first time by BFS personnel. This aquatic macroalgae has been found in other lakes across the region (Canadarago and Moraine Lakes). It can form dense mats along the lake-bottom, pushing out most other plant species. More information related to starry stonewort and its presence in Otsego Lake will be added in the future. This is Otesgo Lake's 25th documented exotic species introduction.
June 18, 2010: Summer Research Interns have started work at the BFS!! Congrats to the students chosen for the 2010 Internship Program. Monitoring efforts have begun on Canadarago and Otsego Lakes (and watersheds), Moraine Lake, a marsh in Oneonta, and will begin next week on the upper reaches of the Susquehanna River.
March 29, 2010: Otsego Lake is officially free of ice; bi-weekly linological monitoring will begin for the year.
March 24, 2010: Winter 2009-2010 Reporter is available!
February 19, 2010: Applications for 2010 internships for undergraduate and high school students are being accepted at this time! Information and forms are available on our internships page. Deadlines vary by internship category.
January 2010: Dr. Butts' work on deer ticks was referenced in local and regional news articles, including the Oneonta Daily Star and New York Outdoor News.
December 30, 2009: Recently completed Master's Thesis by Elias J. Moskal available on the publications page and in print (OP No. 45).The Use of Radium Isotopes and Water Chemistry to Determine Patterns of Groundwater Recharge to Otsego Lake, Otsego County, New York.
November 20, 2009: Press Release: "The deer tick which carries Lyme Disease had been found regularly recently in this immediate area. Because of the serious implications of this, Dr. William Butts has written a brief letter of concern." See Dr. Butts' letter of concern here
October 2, 2009: New Otsego Lake Water Quality Data updates are available from the Otsego Lake Information Page
September 1, 2009: Summer/Fall 2009 Reporter is available! Includes a brief update on zebra mussels in Otsego Lake
August 20, 2009: New Otsego Lake Water Quality Data updates are available from the Otsego Lake Information Page
As of May 2009, The BFS has a new temporary home while our main facility undergoes renovations.
Be sure to check out our new contact information before calling!
Last updated: Monday May 21, 2012
