This year, students at Liberty High School will be leaving the school building and entering one of the best science classrooms in the world: The Great Outdoors. Thanks to a grant from the Catskill Watershed Corporation, nearly 100 students in AP Biology and Environmental Science courses at Liberty will be able to don hip-waders and perform a variety of tests on the Neversink River in order to determine its overall health. Through this process, they will learn the roles that various biotic and abiotic factors have in the overall health of the New York City Watershed. At the same time, they will also be able to identify the effect that humans have on the Watershed, as well.
Dr. Mel Zimmerman, a Professor of Biology at Lycoming College and the Director of the Lycoming College Clean Water Institute in Williamsport, PA has also offered his expertise and services in assisting the students of Liberty in their river study project. As students develop questions that may otherwise go unanswered, Dr. Zimm is happy to help out. Additionally, at the conclusion of our studies, we will compare our results from the Neversink River with results that his Environmental Science students at Lycoming College obtain from a similar stream in the area near Williamsport, PA.
