Center for Aquatic Research Receives Funding to Study Owasco Lake

By tanya cornell-kestler

Keuka College will be one of a handful of institutions to participate in a scientific study of Owasco Lake water quality led by Finger Lakes Institute (FLI) next year.

A world-class research and education center initiated and operated by Hobart and William Smith Colleges, FLI received $325,000 in state funding for the study from State Sen. Michael Nozzolio in August. Under the direction of John Halfman, professor of geoscience and environmental studies at Hobart and William Smith, researchers will routinely collect data from streams and multiple sites in the lake from spring through fall 2007.

In 2005, Halfman began a study that collected water quality data from seven of the 11 Finger Lakes. The preliminary results indicated that of the lakes studied, Owasco ranked last in water quality. 

“Keuka College was selected [to participate in the study] because Dr. [Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science] Tim Sellers is the expert in the region on nutrient limitation studies,” said Halfman. “His part of the grant will investigate which nutrient—phosphorous and/or nitrogen and/or silica—is the algal “growth-limiting” nutrient in Owasco Lake. The methodology will

follow exactly what he and his students do so well in Keuka Lake. For our investigation of Owasco Lake, his information will be critical when we formulate the specific recommendations to improve water quality in Owasco Lake.”

“The Center for Aquatic Research is doing a series of experiments to determine what factors affect phytoplankton growth and type,” said Sellers, who serves as director of the Center. “This information can then be used to better understand how the lake system works and to help define best practices for people and organizations living and working within the Keuka Lake watershed. These same analyses will be used in the Owasco Lake project in 2007. 

“Microscopic algae (phytoplankton) living in the lake are incredibly important to many aspects of the lake’s health and the overall water quality,” explained Sellers. “If there are too little phytoplankton, then there will be little food to support fish and other important organisms. If there are too many phytoplankton, then the lake will be green and soupy and drinking water problems may result. There are also good and bad types of phytoplankton—which is different from simply having too much or too little. Hence, what affects the phytoplankton affects many aspects of the lake’s health and well being.”

In its less than one year in existence, the Center for Aquatic Research has grown from one student participant—Matt Beckwith ’06, who received a research presentation award by the FLI last year—to four.

 “There is a fifth [student] interested in conducting a January Field Period and three or four others interested in participating at some point,” said Sellers, who created the Center as a way of “involving students in research not associated with class work.

“It is important that undergraduates have access to long-term research opportunities that are ongoing, where they can filter in for a week, semester, or year,” added Sellers, who received the Faculty Development Committee’s 2004-05 Excellence in Academic Achievement Award for his accomplishments in research, including the establishment of the Center.

With state funding for the Owasco Lake project comes money to pay “one or two” students researchers to assist with the project during the summer.

“I hope that students take a good stake in what they are learning about the importance of ecology and quality of the lake,” said Sellers, who is spreading the word about the Center for Aquatic Research’s ongoing findings.

‘Vigilance is Key’

ASAP Instructor Shares His Counterterrorism Expertise with Students

By tanya cornell-kestler

Students in Joseph Snell’s Current Issues in Law Enforcement class know that New York state is better prepared to identify and deter a terrorist attack than it was five years ago. 

That’s because Town of Cicero Police Chief Snell, who teaches in the Accelerated Studes for Adults Program (ASAP) at Onondaga Community College and Cayuga Community College, is on the cutting edge of counterterrorism planning.

In 2004, he was appointed chairman of Counterterrorism Zone 7 (CTZ 7). New York state is divided into several counter terrorism zones that covers between six and eight counties.

“The purpose of CTZs is to assist the New York State Office of Homeland Security communicate and train local law enforcement officers,” said Snell, who spent 22 years with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department. “The chairperson works closely with New York State Police personnel assigned to the Office of Homeland Security.

“During my tenure as chairman, I was tasked with a project to identify potential high-risk terrorist targets within Zone 7,” said Snell. “A committee was formed, several areas were identified and buffer zone protection plans were developed for each site. The final plan was submitted to the federal government for review and revenue was distributed to some of the sites to enhance the protection of their facilities.”

In 2005, Snell was selected by the New York State Department of Homeland Security to represent CTZ 7 on the design team in the nation’s first prevention and deterrence exercise conducted throughout New York state.

“The purpose of the exercise was to test the post-9/11 improvements that New York state has made to identify and disrupt a possible terrorist plot,” said Snell. “Three CTZs (Zones 3, 4 and 7) were selected to participate in the exercise and the design and exercise team included the Federal Department of Homeland Security, federally contracted exercise design firms, New York State Office of Homeland Security, New York State Police, and law enforcement representative from Zones 3, 4 and 7.”

According to Snell, “the challenge was to provide an effective exercise that could be conducted over a multi-jurisdictional area and produce measurable results.

“Law enforcement’s history has been to develop and implement reactionary exercises that test the capability of the organization to respond following a crisis,” Snell added. “Never has a prevention exercise ever been conducted with law enforcement on a statewide level.”

The exercise was conducted over three weeks in June 2005 and Snell evaluated how Zone 7 responded.

“The exercise involved real players and statewide law enforcement agencies were tested,” said Snell. “Following the exercise, the team met over the summer, reviewing the results and preparing a comprehensive report. It was determined that New York state had successfully detected and deterred the intended plot.”

According to Snell, the final report and exercise plan was reviewed by the Federal Department of Homeland Security, which recommended that it be conducted in all states.

Snell was the Department of Homeland Security’s guest speaker at the Prevention and Deterrence Conference held in Washington, D.C., in January.

“Vigilance is the key word to prevention,” said Snell. “Terrorism is a philosophical war that has been engrained into our culture. I do not believe that it is a war that can be won on a traditional battlefield, but can be contained and threats minimized through constant vigilance and planning.”    

And Snell shares his ideas and experiences with his students.   

“I find that Keuka’s philosophy on education has allowed me to bring my experiences and training to students interested in local and national issues,” said Snell, who has been teaching at some level—“whether in the academic or law enforcement arena”—for more than 25 years.

“With his MBA and many years of law enforcement management experience, [Snell] is able to provide a realistic view of law enforcement careers to our students, based upon his personal experiences,” said Gary Prawel, coordinator of ASAP’s criminal justice program. “As a chief of police, he has personal responsibility for implementing the philosophy of ‘community policing,’ not only in the Town of Cicero but cooperatively across geographical boundaries through his relationships with other law enforcement executives.

“He has both local and national credibility in terrorism and crisis management preparedness, which is not only a plus for the quality of our students’ education, but a positive reflection of the highly respected professionals who make up the Keuka College ASAP criminal justice faculty,” added Prawel.