Students to Present Pushaw Water Quality Research Finding
Contact: Kay Hyatt at (207) 581-2761
ORONO, Maine — Upward Bound students will present the results of five weeks of Pushaw Lake water quality research on Tuesday, August 2, at the University of Maine. The presentations of data and findings begin at 2 p.m. in the Memorial Union Multi-Purpose Room, located on the bottom floor of the Union.
Approximately 40 students in the UMaine Upward Bound Math-Science Center program have been working to discover why phosphorus levels have increased, particularly in the north end of the lake. The continuing research project is in collaboration with the Greater Pushaw Lake Association, and the UMaine Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program and Sawyer Environmental Chemistry Research Laboratory.
Upward Bound is a federally funded educational opportunity program for high school students from low-income, first-generation college families. The Math-Science Center students come from every New England state except Rhode Island and want to pursue degrees in mathematics, science or technology. They spend six weeks on campus each summer, working on a variety of research projects.
Prior to beginning the bi-weekly fieldwork on July 1, the students geared up for the research by learning about data management, experimental design and scientific writing, and how to use Geographic Information Systems. In addition to collecting and analyzing water samples, they scoured the lake area for sources of high phosphorus levels, such as erosion, washed-out roads, fertilizer run-off, inefficient culverts and natural decomposition.
It is hoped that the students’ research-based public service will help define and solve some of the water quality problems at Pushaw Lake, a significant environmental, recreational and economic resource for the Bangor area, according to Nate Larlee, a UMaine environmental educator and coordinator of the Upward Bound Math-Science Regional Center program.
Larlee is the media contact at the August 2 presentations. Some members of the Pushaw Lake Association and other interested persons are expected to attend.