Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2012 Pine Lake Journal
2012 Pine Lake Journal
2012
Pine Lake Institute & Environmental Campus PO Box 4020 Oneonta, NY 13820 hartwick.edu/pinelake
Watershed Education Initiative Studying Biodiversity in Honduras Teaming up with State Parks
www.hartwick.edu/pinelake
CONTENTS 2012 Pine Lake Journal
4 5 Pine Lakes Mission & Vision View From the Lake by Pine Lake Director Brian Hagenbuch
COLLABORATIONS
16 17
State Parks Partnership Creates Student Research Opportunities Watershed Education Initiative Launched
RESEARCH
18 19
SUSTAINABILITY AT HARTWICK
7 8 9
Hartwick Begins Zero-Sort Recycling Hartwick Takes Third Statewide in Recycling Contest A Recycling Pilot Study at Hartwick
Field Lab, ES&P Programs Get Boost from Grants Working to Protect Amphibians in Honduras
TEACHING
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An Enlightening Class
Energy Challenge Student Residence Assessment Starts Home Energy Use Conversation
24 Donation Brings New Docks to Pine Lake 26-27 Thank You to Pine Lake Donors 28 Photo of 2011-12 Pine Lake Residents
PHOTO: The walls of the Island House at Pine Lake bear the names of more than 40 years of student visitors.
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MISSION
The Pine Lake Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Studies actively engages the Hartwick community in education, research, and experiential learning and living opportunities that promote ecological stewardship and economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Teaching. Research. Collaboration. For more than 40 years, Hartwick Colleges Pine Lake Environmental Campus has supported the Colleges academic mission through experiential learning that engages students in promoting a just, equitable, and sustainable society. In this issue of the Pine Lake Journal, Im pleased to highlight several initiatives that have strengthened Pine Lakes academic focus, expanded opportunities for student research, and created novel collaborations with community partners. Pine Lake offers a rich array of environments for teaching beyond the traditional classroom. Students can learn about upland forest ecology, uncover Native American artifacts, take a creative writing course in the Strawbale House, or use the areas natural beauty as a studio canvas. In fall 2011, Pine Lake hosted Visiting Professor Krishna Kant Shukla, who taught a course on Indian devotional music and spoke to numerous classes and student groups (Page 20). In April, the Pine Lake Institute received a $201,000 grant to develop and implement watershed education curricula for regional K-12 grades (Page 17). The grant expands the Pine Lake Partnership with regional schools and engages pre-service education majors in field-based lesson planning while aiming to protect the Upper Susquehanna River watershed. Pine Lake continues to be a hub for student and faculty research on the regional environment. While the biological diversity of Pine Lake has been well documented, contemporary questions concentrate on gaining greater insight into the nature of ecological systems. Research focuses on the resilience of forest ecosystems, developmental biology of amphibians, impact of invasive
VISION
The Pine Lake Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Studies educates and activates an inspired citizenry capable of working toward a just, equitable, and sustainable society.
Sustainability at Hartwick Hartwicks Pine Lake Environmental Campus Challenge Education and Awakening Robert R. Smith Environmental Field Laboratory Hartwicks annual Campus Theme Summer courses at Pine Lake
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SUSTAINABILITY AT HARTWICK
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SUSTAINABILITY AT HARTWICK
SUSTAINABILITY AT HARTWICK
of 20 New York institutions in the Grand Champion category (and 85th out of 220 nationwide). We were really pleased with the results of the competition, said Dan Morse, Hartwicks Coordinator of Sustainability Programs. Its very exciting for Hartwick to do this well in our very first year of participation. We had a great organizing group, especially our student RecycleMania Team, who were the catalysts for promoting Hartwicks Zero-Sort Recycling Program in their residence halls. For more on Hartwicks recycling initiatives, vist www.hartwick.edu/recycling. Recycled Art Contest Best in Show winner Lindsay Worden 12 stands with her sculpture, Recycled Coral Reef. The contest was one of Hartwicks Recyclemania events during the Spring.
The RecycleMania Tournament, an eightweek competition that ignites classic college rivalries, rallying students, faculty and staff to increase on-campus recycling rates beyond their collegiate competitors, wrapped up its 12th year, with Hartwick College recovering 64,524 pounds of organic and recyclable materials.
RECYCLEMANIA2012
FEBRUARY 6-MARCH 31
TOTAL
NATL RANK
NYS RANK
Hartwick College
35.34%
85/266
4/20
Hartwick College
22/321
3/24
OVERALL SCOREBOARD
FINAL Cumulative Results
hartwick.edu/recyclemania sustain@hartwick.edu sustain hartwick @sustainhartwick
BUILDING NAME(S)
Maintenance/Pole Barn Johnstone Binder Van Ess Smith Pine Lake/Saxton Leitzell Table Rock/Perella Bresee/Golisano/Clark Holmes Townhouses Wilder Dewar Hilltop/Oyaron Yager Anderson
Final Rank
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Recycling Rate
66.99% 54.51% 46.39% 44.06% 43.28% 39.44% 38.99% 38.33% 38.19% 34.09% 30.31% 27.12% 26.79% 25.15% 24.04% 8.67%
Cumulative Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions: 64 Metric Tons of CO2 equivalent, or 34 cars off the road, or the energy consumption of 17 households
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Challenge Education
"Erin's passion for the environment and ability to engage students in experiential and outdoor learning activities are strengths she brings to Hartwick College and Pine Lake," said Dr. Brian Hagenbuch, Director of the Pine Lake Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Studies. "Under her guidance, Hartwick will continue to offer quality experiential learning opportunities, facilitate leadership development in our students, and involve them in efforts to create sustainable living communities." Toal assumed residency at Pine Lake on June 1 and has an office in Dewar Student Union. She replaced Seth Lucas '10, who departed Hartwick to pursue graduate studies in Arizona. In addition to the appointment of Toal, the Challenge Education and Awakening programs have been placed under the administrative umbrella of Pine Lake Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Studies. Previously, these programs were part of Student Affairs.
Hartwick College's Pine Lake Institute and Environmental Campus is pleased to welcome Erin Toal as Coordinator of Challenge Education and Pine Lake Residency. Toal will coordinate Challenge Education activities, supervise student leaders, organize programs, and manage the high and low ropes course at Pine Lake. She will direct the Awakening program Hartwick College's signature outdoor orientation program and serve as the residential director for students who live at Pine Lake. She will also manage Pine Lake's summer cabin rentals, scheduling, and programming. Toal comes to Hartwick from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, where for eight years she worked as a high and low ropes challenge course instructor and caretaker at the school's outdoor education center. She received bachelors degrees from the college in Physical Education, Health Education, and Outdoor Recreation and Leisure Services Management. She is also certified to teach
kindergarten through 12th grade. Hartwick's focus on experiential learning was attractive to Toal, as was the opportunity to engage students in environmental stewardship and sustainable living at Pine Lake. "I appreciate the environmental focus of the College; sustainability provides a foundation for life-long living and learning that connects both the human and natural world," she said. "Hartwick students are passionate about Pine Lake and I look forward to working with them to model sustainable living and learning. "Hartwick's Challenge Education and Awakening programs provide a vehicle for both individuals and groups to enhance their personal awareness, use their strengths to benefit others, and accomplish their goals," Toal added. "It's an exciting opportunity to help students as they get started on their college experience, undertake new challenges and adventures, and learn to co-exist with the natural world."
Empowering Students
Another goal for the Pine Lake Club this year was student empowerment. Life at Pine Lake teaches a different way of living one not focused on buying into the values of consumer culture, but on learning to live simply and provide for each other. On the afternoon of our largest fall event, the local foods cook-off, over a dozen people crowded into the Lodge kitchen, creating unique recipes that utilized local and seasonal cheeses and produce. The potluck dinner that night featured 16 different dishes. Before we started in on the incredible food, we took a few minutes to go around the table, and everyone spoke about their contribution and named something for which they were thankful. In my time at Pine Lake, I have learned so many things, but this is perhaps the most important: we can do for ourselves and we can do for each other. We can live differently and it can be very good. My hope for the Pine Lake Club in the future is that it will continue to facilitate that attitude of discovery, selfreliance, and interdependence for the next generation of Pine Lakers and friends.
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Falling in Love
Emma Tipping 08 has several connections to Hartwick College and Pine Lake. Tipping recently married fellow Hartwick grad Michael Golden 07 at Pine Lake. Her father, Jeffrey Tipping 78, played on the national championship winning soccer team. Tippings father-in-law, Ken Golden, is a professor of Theatre Arts at Hartwick. Tipping fondly remembers meeting her husband, swimming in the lake, and waking up to snow in the woods.
Emma Tipping walks with her father, Jeffrey Tipping 78, at Pine Lake.
Finding a Place
Neondre McCowan 14 talks about moving into his Pine Lake cabin and finding the perfect home at Pine Lake as a transfer student.
By Neondre McCowan 14
When I learned about Pine Lake, I thought it was too good to be true. Here I am, a transfer student coming to a new school, a person who loves nature and being around it, and I have the opportunity to live at Pine Lake. I lived on campus my first semester. When the time came around to choose housing for the next term, a friend mentioned Pine Lake. It would be perfect for you. You could live in a small, closeknit community in the forest on a lake. Again I held onto my doubt, but I think I was meant to be at Pine Lake. I applied for a cabin and was approved. I felt so much joy. I began to visit Pine Lake and meet the people there, and I knew I had found the right place to live. Being a part of Pine Lake is surreal in a way. It gives me time and space to be studious and focus, and also accomplish goals that are separate from school. I am majoring in Biology with aspirations of becoming an Ecologist/Herpetologist. Every day and night at Pine Lake I learn something about the forest or the water or the Earth. Different birds and animals that I see, I study them to learn their behavior. There are unlimited opportunities to gain knowledge and to enjoy ourselves with the people and the environment around us. The people at the Lake all aspire to greatness, and it makes everyone around them feel the same. I am glad to be a Pine Laker and proud to contribute to what Pine Lake is.
By Emma Tipping 08
I lived at Pine Lake from 2005 to 2008. Its where I woke up to my first snowfall in the woods, where I overcame my fear of swimming in open water, and where I forged some of my most cherished friendships. Pine Lake is also where I fell in love with my husband. We united our families and communities during our wedding at Pine Lake. These are just a few of the gifts that Pine Lake has given me, and I hope its obvious why the place has special significance to me. Even more, though, I would like to point out what Pine Lake means to our community. Its no coincidence that Pine Lakers have among the highest GPAs of any student group at Hartwick and are consistently
represented among John Christopher Hartwick, Emerson and Duffy Scholars. Whether the lake produces these sorts of students or attracts them, the Hartwick College community is enriched in either case. For me personally, Pine Lake is my home. Its where my heart lies and where I carved out a place for myself in a tight-knit, respectful community. In a larger context, it is a place that not only fosters idealism but encourages young people to put in the work required to make their ideals a reality. Without even considering the potluck dinners, the contra dances, the handmade houses and breathtaking scenery, this alone makes Pine Lake one of Hartwick Colleges greatest assets. Emma Tipping dances with her husband, Michael Golden 07.
Being a part of Pine Lake gives me time and space to be studious and focus, and also accomplish goals that are separate from school.
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COLLABORATIONS
ROBERT V. RIDDELL STATE PARK - HARTWICK COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP PROJECT INITIAL STAGES OF VEGETATION MAPPING - using field data and ortho images to map ecological communities
COLLABORATIONS
Community classification follows Edinger et al. 2002 "Ecological communities of New York".
conifer forest to refine managed forest to define Robert V. Riddell State Park
Mapping by Julie Lundgren, State Parks Ecologist 2012 NYNHP/OPRHP Field assistance from Hartwick interns Liam Heiland & Kristy Scaggs Base layers: Eastern NYS 2001 1-foot orthoimagery and DOT 1:24,000 topographic image
0.25
0.5
1 Miles
1:24,000
The goals of the TAP-US collaboration include: 1. Increase knowledge and understanding of the Upper Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds 2. Enhance the field- and classroom-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching capacity of in-service and pre-service elementary teachers; 3. Provide meaningful watershed educational experiences for students by offering hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunities that increase environmental literacy and the sense of discovery 4. Enhance awareness of the local outdoors, and engage students in activities to protect and maintain the ecology of rivers, streams, and wetlands in the Upper Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds 5. Enable teachers and students to integrate data collection and technology and to communicate and collaborate between schools to increase knowledge of system-wide watershed-related issues The project supports an annual week-long summer professional development workshop for regional teachers at the Pine Lake Environmental Campus, site visits to Pine Lake and other aquatic environments for school children, a website for communication among partners, and an annual symposium showcasing successful efforts. Participating teachers may qualify for a stipend, and schools will receive watershed equipment and supplies for their classrooms. Teachers interested in participating in the TAP-US workshop should email pinelake@hartwick.edu or visit www.hartwick. edu/pinelake for more information.
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2011-12 ES&P Scholar Award winners Liam Heiland 13 and Kristy Scaggs 12 work with Pine Lake Director Brian Hagenbuch, left, at Pine Lake.
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH
Equipment Upgrades
Funding from the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation has resulted in several equipment purchases and upgrades for the Robert R. Smith Environmental Field Laboratory, located at Hartwicks Pine Lake Environmental Campus. These acquisitions enhance teaching and research at Pine Lake. Cargill funds expand Hartwicks leadership role in teaching about and monitoring the Upper Susquehanna River watershed and support students and faculty collaborating with Robert V. Riddell State Park biologists in research on the impact of recreational use on the biology and ecology of public lands. Other ongoing research at Pine Lake benefitting from the funding includes biogeochemical studies of the watershed, amphibian developmental ecology, and the impact of aquatic invasive crayfish on native populations. Cargill funds resulted in the following upgrades and acquisitions: Replacement of the permanent meteorology station Purchase of three portable meteorological stations Purchase of field lab computer system, printer, scanner, and automated data logger to support real-time data collection Purchase of three rowboats and a portable collapsible boat Increase stock of field water meters, soil and air testing kits, and GPS units.
Sheila Niedziela 13: Studying Ancient Fossils to Predict Future Climate (Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY) Jenna Rodrigues 14: Stony Creek Farm Apprenticeship (Stony Creek Farm, Walton, NY) Catherine Winters 14: Roots and Wisdom Summer Community Outreach Coordinator (Roots and Wisdom, Schenectady, NY)
INTERNSHIP AWARDS
Abby Nelson 14: Field Studies Internship at Robert V. Riddell State Park (NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation)
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TEACHING
Krishna Kant Shukla is seen with his students of The World of North Indian Devotional Music course at Pine Lake.
An Enlightening Class
By Alyssa Pearson 12 Last fall, I was fortunate enough to take part in The World of North Indian Devotional Music, taught by Visiting Professor Krishna Kant Shukla and Professor of Religious Studies Sandy Huntington. The course, which met entirely at Pine Lake, was different from my other classes because of its setting and its content. For three hours every Monday night, we sat in Lakeside Classroom at Pine Lake in a circle on our meditation cushions with tea, song lyrics, and books. Although three hours may sound like a long time, it wasnt enough time to cover the discussions and singing. Krishna gave us thorough accounts and histories of the songs we sang to help us better understand their meanings and importance. Then, slowly but surely, we worked our way through the beautiful pieces translating, interpreting, and attempting to pronounce the words. The course was extremely special for me. In the spring, I spent four months on my own in India on a Duffy Family Ambassador scholarship. While in India, I seldom used my iPod, but the songs we sang in this class were often stuck in my head and made me feel better when I was on my own. For part of this journey, I was working with an organization against child labor, and on my last day I stood up in front of the entire staff, and - for the very first time in my life - I faced my biggest fear and sang alone in front of a group. I sang the song Ham Pardesi, which is about being a bird from a foreign land. The class, Krishna, Sandy, and my classmates helped prepare me for a more personal and spiritual encounter with India during my four-month experience there.
Article from the July 4, 1922 edition of The Oneonta Star. AT SHERMAN LAKE TODAY Louis Stanton Announced to Give His Milk Can Act in Which the Can is Sunk in the Lake This Afternoon This afternoon those who spend the Fourth at Sherman lake will have an opportunity to witness the sensational act which Lewis Stanton (sic) has put on on a few occasions which has always aroused much curiosity wherever given. After Stanton has been securely locked with at least a half dozen large padlocks inside what resembles a regulation milk can the can will be taken out into the middle of the lake and sunk in the deepest point. Usually the elusive artist reappears within a 15-minute period on the opposite shore of the lake. Whether he will be able to reappear within the time stated or fail to liberate himself in the depth of water is a matter of conjecture. Certain is it, however, that the act will have the frequenters of the resort puzzled at the exhibition. An effort is being made also to secure his consent to give his coffin act first presented at the Oneonta theatre a few weeks since during the convention of the New York State Undertakers association, during the afternoon. No definite agreement had been secured late yesterday afternoon to present this act. Mr. Stanton, after completing his engagement at Sherman lake, will proceed on for a trip in Delaware county, where he is booked to appear successively for three days at theatres in Hobart, Delhi, and Walton.
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Later he will take a trip to Norwich and other places west of Oneonta.
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Energy Challenge
A blower door measures building shell leakage in Bailey Cabin.
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In my time at Pine Lake, Ive learned so many things, but this is perhaps the most important: we can live differently and it can be very good.. Casey Mullaney 12
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This list reflects gifts made between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012.
Richard and Jill Karen Nass '84 Accordino Karen Ingles '94 and Ralph Adolfsen Judith Allen and Michael J. Friedman Barbara L. Allen '75 Edward F. and Mary W. Ambrose Anonymous 07 David L. and Carolyn Anderson James M. Angstadt '08 Robert F. Apuzzo and Lucy E. Oxios Marc V. and Brenda K. Arnold Charles W. Ashe and Patricia M. Lawson Gary L. Ballard Leon Beach Bruce and Alice Benjamin Kathleen Amatucci '85 and Brett R. Bentley Susan J. Bethel Elizabeth A. Beyer '75 David and Lois Brenner James J. and Diane Broschart Philip J. and Geraldine Buccelli Mary Kay Hausmann Campenot '74 Robert J. and Patricia R. Cantin Daniel R. '83 and Katherine Murray '84 Castle Catskill Medical Engineering Adriane Cej Thomas M. H'03 and Katherine C. Chappell Natalie Ciccariello Marie Healy Cunningham '80
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