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CU • News & Events

Clarkson Professors Partner to Bolster Training of Tomorrow’s Watershed Stewards

Release Date
Monday November 15, 2021
Jillian Neaves and Diana White survey Norwood Lake
Left to right, Jillian Neaves ’24 and Professor Diana White

Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Diana White and colleagues, was funded by the New York Sea Grant for the project titled “Building Capacity for Protectors of the Water and Habitat on the Indian River Lake (Project WHIRL) – Establishing Community Strength in Water Resource Education and Stewardship.” The goal of the project is to expand Project WHIRL (est. 2019), a K-12 program developed as a volunteer program for school-aged children by the Indian River Lakes Conservancy.  The project focused on aquatic resource stewardship in the northeast region of New York State.

White worked to expand Project WHIRL in summer 2021 to include a for-credit track, where high school students worked on activities involving lake surveying, application of mathematical modeling to invasive species biocontrol, and experiential field trips to the Thousand Island Biological Station operated by SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and a Eurasion watermilfoil mitigation study conducted by Clarkson University at Lake Norwood on the Raquette River.  White worked with high school teacher Andrea Inserra of the Indian River High School to develop the summer curriculum and students obtained high school credit in earth science.

“Our intention with the program is to train future leaders in watershed management, enhance Scientific literacy in this area, and for this program to have positive feedback effects for similar training in the years to come. We’re excited to already see positive feedback, having a past Project WHIRL student, Jillian Neaves ’24, (Biomolecular Science at Clarkson University) mentor Project WHIRL students this past summer. Also, one of our current WHIRL graduates is already suggesting that they are excited to pursue a career with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation” White said.

Clarkson Biology Chair Michael Twiss states “This is a great program for local students to learn both science and how it applies to protecting the abundant freshwater resources in our region – from mountain streams in the Adirondacks, to wetlands in the valley, to the mighty St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario.  I am impressed that these high school students presented their research findings alongside university students at the Research and Projects Showcase, held last summer at Clarkson University - this shows the valuable experience that Dr. White and partners were able to provide these upcoming scientists.”

The project is in collaboration with Clarkson University faculty Michael Twiss (Professor and Chair of Biology), Kathleen Kavanagh (Professor of Mathematics and Director of the STEM Education Institute), Lisa Legault (Associate Professor of Psychology), Indian River teacher Andrea Inserra, and the Indian River Lakes Conservancy. Other Clarkson undergraduate mentors include Noah Bohl (Environmental Science and Policy), Nathalie Barrios (Psychology), and Nicolas Bos-Ladd (Data Science).The team is working to expand Project WHIRL to 5 more high-need schools throughout counties bordering the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries.  Work from Project WHIRL was published in the SIAM news.

As a private, national research university, Clarkson is a leader in technological education and sustainable economic development through teaching, scholarship, research and innovation. We ignite personal connections across academic fields and industries to create the entrepreneurial mindset, knowledge and intellectual curiosity needed to innovate world-relevant solutions and cultivate the leaders of tomorrow. With its main campus located in Potsdam, N.Y., and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region, Beacon, N.Y., and New York City, Clarkson educates 4,600+ students across 95 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, the arts, education, sciences and health professions. Our alumni earn salaries that are among the top 2.5% in the nation and realize accelerated career growth. One in five already leads as a CEO, senior executive or owner of a company. To learn more about Clarkson University, go to www.clarkson.edu.


Photograph for media use is available at:
/sites/default/files/media/image/2021-11/white-watermilfoil.jpg

Photograph Size:
Width: 1182px
Height: 1773px

News directors and editors: For more information, contact Melissa Lindell, Director of Media Relations, at 315-268-6716 or mlindell@clarkson.edu.

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