It has been a busy summer at Emiquon. We kicked off the season with the opening of our new Emiquon Field Station. We currently have several researchers that use the facility weekly, but have also hosted a summer field biology class, a workshop on wetland plants, a star party, and several other groups.
We are looking forward to a busy but interesting fall. I hope you will be able to visit us. I've decided for this "blog" session that I would log in our weekly sampling trips. Every week, my students and I sample Thompson Lake at Emiquon and USFWS's Chautauqua, across the Illinois River from Emiquon. This is a comparative study that measures water quality and microorganisms. We sample weekly because of the dynamic changes that occur in floodplain systems (in general) and restoration systems in particular.
Probably nothing else captures the sense of place and the rythym of the seasons on the river than being physically on site. This week, I sampled with Jacke Negro - a graduating UIS M.S. student. We have busy weeks and really busy weeks and this was the latter. While I gathered top and bottom water, algae, and sediment samples, Jackie records water quality information, such as temperature, pH and water clarity. This week, the air was still and the lakes were calm, giving the appearnace of huge mirror. We noted the increased numbers of commorants and egrets. There is also the 2nd of two "algae" blooms going on.
I welcome visitors on these sampling trips, espeically if you are interested in science and or conservation. We don't do much fooling around but you would get to see how some parts of resarch are being done at the sites as well as getting exposed to some great country.
We are looking forward to a busy but interesting fall. I hope you will be able to visit us. I've decided for this "blog" session that I would log in our weekly sampling trips. Every week, my students and I sample Thompson Lake at Emiquon and USFWS's Chautauqua, across the Illinois River from Emiquon. This is a comparative study that measures water quality and microorganisms. We sample weekly because of the dynamic changes that occur in floodplain systems (in general) and restoration systems in particular.
Probably nothing else captures the sense of place and the rythym of the seasons on the river than being physically on site. This week, I sampled with Jacke Negro - a graduating UIS M.S. student. We have busy weeks and really busy weeks and this was the latter. While I gathered top and bottom water, algae, and sediment samples, Jackie records water quality information, such as temperature, pH and water clarity. This week, the air was still and the lakes were calm, giving the appearnace of huge mirror. We noted the increased numbers of commorants and egrets. There is also the 2nd of two "algae" blooms going on.
I welcome visitors on these sampling trips, espeically if you are interested in science and or conservation. We don't do much fooling around but you would get to see how some parts of resarch are being done at the sites as well as getting exposed to some great country.
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