Hudson and Harbor Snapshots

NYC Public School students working together to measure the East River’s current at Gantry Plaza State Park

We recently sponsored more than 300 New York City public school students for the New York State Department of Conservation’s (DEC) A Day in the Life of the Hudson & Harbor. Through this program, students collect scientific data to create “snapshots” of the Hudson River and then share their findings via the web so they can determine how their section of the river fits into the larger Hudson estuary ecosystem. This year, nearly 5,000 students from Troy to New York City collected data from 72 different locations!

Left: Measuring turbidity; Right: Analysing water chemistry

Left and Right: Observing macroinvertibrates

In New York City, students collected and analyzed water samples and made environmental observations along the East River, at Gantry Plaza State Park. DEP supplied the equipment for the event, including seine nets and lab materials to investigate aquatic life, water chemistry and quality, tides and weather.

Left: Members of our education team working with students; Right: Advanced placement students at the High School for Environmental Studies in Manhattan

Our education team supervised students from the High School for Environmental Studies in Manhattan and 8th graders from Hunter’s Point Community Middle School in Queens. The high school students led five stations that taught the 8th graders field techniques for how to properly measure water quality. Together, they measured the river’s currents and performed tests to determine the level of turbidity, pH, salinity and dissolved oxygen in the water. The eighth graders then taught their high school partners the techniques they use to clean and monitor the oysters they are raising in the East River.

We’re proud to partner with DEC to bring this valuable program to thousands of young New Yorkers. This annual event, now in its 15th year, is part of DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program, which is sponsored by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.Hud

This event is just one way that our education team connects with young New Yorkers to instill leadership skills and and inspire environmental stewardship on a local level. Our education team services more than 30,000 students and 1,000 teachers each year! They facilitate school field trips to the Visitor Center at Newtown Creek, present lessons at schools, partner with Trout Unlimited for the Trout in the Classroom program, develop curricula, run the annual Art & Poetry contest, and provide an important support network for educators. For more information about our environmental education programs, please visit nyc.gov/dep/education.

The Hudson River is not just a river — it is a tidal estuary. The estuary makes up the lower half of the Hudson River, spanning 153 miles from the tip of the Battery to the Troy Dam. The river experiences dramatic changes in salinity, circulation patterns, tidal ranges, river width and water depth, fish species, macro invertebrate communities, and plant life. While the northern half of the river is freshwater fed by snowmelt, groundwater and rain, the southern estuary section is a tidal mix of salty seawater and freshwater.