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November 10, 2017
 Hello! My name is Meg O’Donnell, manager of the Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Laboratory in the Patrick Center for Environmental Research. I began my work with the Academy of Natural Sciences and Phase 1 of the DRWI back in 2013, and have expanded my work to include several other grant-funded macroinvertebrate projects. A lot has changed with the DRWI, and our team is excited to fill our role as science leads in Phase 2.
My role here at the Academy currently comprises field, lab, and computer based tasks – which satisfies my desires for a balance of engaging in stream sampling at sites throughout the Delaware River Basin, identifying specimens through microscopy, and performing statistical analyses and drafting reports. I enjoy the process of seeing projects through to fruition and conveying our results academically and more broadly to the conservation community.
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In our lab, microscopes equipped with cameras allow me to capture specimens through a highly-magnified lens, as seen with this Corixidae. (Photo by Meg O'Donnell)
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Among my many interesting experiences while out conducting fieldwork have been finding less-common specimens, seeing truly spectacular natural areas, and interacting with diverse members of rural agricultural communities that have allowed us to engage in sampling.
I have just completed an M.S. in environmental policy here at Drexel University, and I look forward to applying my academic experiences and hands-on scientific work to tackle real-world problems both locally and regionally. In my free time I enjoy biking, painting, and creating music.
- Meg
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Turning the Wissahickon Green (On Purpose)
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Drs. Sarah H. Ledford and Laura Toran of Temple University and Dr. Marie Kurz of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University recently conducted two stream "tracer" tests to investigate the health of the Wissahickon Creek ecosystem. They added two non-toxic, fluorescent dyes into the creek and, aided by a small army of volunteers, tracked how that dye signal progressed downstream. The tracers show how water flows in the stream, and where and how much stream metabolism occurs.
The tests were conducted in consultation with the PA Department of Environmental Protection. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation. The extensive, William Penn Foundation-funded data logger network, which studies controls on stream nutrient concentrations in the Wissahickon, allowed for NSF funding to be obtained for this project.
For more information on the tracer tests, check out the Academy's blog post about the event.
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Above: Students from nearby Germantown Academy use the tracer test as an opportunity for an outdoor classroom to learn about creek ecosystems.
Top of story: Green dye is added to Wissahickon Creek at the "injection point" below Ambler Wastewater Treatment Plant.
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Do you have an interesting photo or story that we can feature in an upcoming issue of Stream Samples? Contact Amanda Chan! |
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Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)
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Pollution Tolerance: Intolerant
Distribution: Along the Atlantic Coast, from Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida. In Pennsylvania, native to the Delaware and Susquehanna river drainages.
Habitat: Stream beds of fine sediment, silt and detritus.
Food: Filter feed on algae and plankton.
Unique Characteristics: Like any other ammocoetes (larval lamprey), sea lamprey ammocoetes have no teeth or eyes and use a specialized oral hood to feed and obtain food. Their oral hoods are heavily pigmented, and their bodies are identified by a somewhat rounded, paddle-shaped caudal fin. This lamprey will often stay in the larval stage for four to six years, burrowed in fine sediment stream banks until they begin metamorphosis that lasts for four to six months. During metamorphosis, ammocoetes lose their oral hood and develop teeth, eyes and kidneys. Four to six months later, the newly transformed lamprey (“transformers”) emerge from the substrate and begin their migration to sea, where they will develop into adults.
Source: Fish & Wildlife Service, The Fishes of Pennsylvania
Photo: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
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Calling All Data Requests!
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As the science lead for the DRWI, we welcome requests for data that we and our monitoring partners have collected. Examples of outputs currently available from ANS include:
- Data requests (e.g. raw data, custom GIS outputs)
- Analyses (e.g. IBI scores for fish, aquatic insects, algae)
- Data interpretation (e.g. baseline stream assessments)
- Summaries and recommendations (e.g. whole-cluster and/or focus area narratives
Data requests can be sent directly to the Academy's Environmental Data Science team at ans_EDS@drexel.edu.
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SRAT Online Interface is Live!
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The Stream Reach Assessment Tool's official online interface has gone live! In addition to collecting corrections and edits to the SRAT results, the Academy has released SRAT from its beta version and launched www.streamreachtools.org. All changes made to SRAT will be posted here, as well as all the latest SRAT shape files ready for download. This new version has been recently updated to include roads, a tab with land cover and land use data (NLCD 2011), and local catchment and total catchment data for the Kirkwood-Cohansey areas outside the Delaware River Basin. Point source data have also been updated by request.
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