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 Yonkers, NY - Dr. Frank Nitsche, a scientist with Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, will present Secrets of the Deep on Saturday, November 21 at Beczak Environmental Education Center, 35 Alexander Street, Yonkers.
His presentation begins at 7:00 PM and the cost is $5 per person, including live music and refreshments.
Secrets of the Deep is a unique opportunity to see the results of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory’s investigations of the bottom of the Hudson River—a massive undertaking called The Hudson River Benthic Mapping Project. Dr. Frank Nitsche’s team has methodically swept the lower Hudson with a range of acoustic survey and sampling methods—deep ocean techniques that were adapted to a shallow estuary for the first time. He will present stunning images of the river bottom that reveal shipwrecks, an ancient and large oyster bed in the Tappan Zee Bay, and how massive changes to the Hudson River shoreline changed flow and sediment distribution on the bottom of the river.
“I am still amazed to see all the details these data provide,” says Nitsche. “Identifying the different ship wrecks on the bottom is only one aspect. We found much more variation in deposition and erosion then previously thought. This includes the very clear effect that human modifications have on the river bottom, which is connected to the fascinating history of the river.”
What is the river like at Beczak Environmental Education Center? Dr. Nitsche answers, “In Yonkers we see that the river is practically divided in two parts parallel to the shoreline. The eastern side is a deeper channel with a rougher surface, while the west side is relatively shallow and smooth. There are few objects on the bottom of this stretch of the river.”
The Hudson River Benthic Mapping Project was funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with funds from the Environmental Protection Fund through the Hudson River Estuary Program. It was conducted under the leadership of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in collaboration with Stony Brook University, Queens College and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
Beczak Environmental Education Center’s spacious interpretive center is steps from the downtown Yonkers Amtrak and Metro-North station, and has ample free parking. Refreshments for Secrets of the Deep will be provided by Yonkers’ Saunders High School Culinary Arts program.
Secrets of the Deep is the ninth in Beczak’s popular Hudson Quadricentennial Lectures. The final program for 2009 is Hudson River MYTHBUSTERS! on December 19. Come with questions and learn what's truth and what’s urban legend from a panel of other experts. This event is FREE and funded by the New York Council for the Humanities.
ABOUT BECZAK ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER
Beczak Environmental Education Center is a non-profit organization that presents exhibits and programs for all ages to raise environmental awareness and to encourage informed stewardship of rivers.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation calls Beczak’s rehabilitated property an “environmental recovery success story.” Located on the banks of the Hudson in the City of Yonkers, at River Mile 18, this spacious interpretive center is an adaptive reuse of the former social club for Habirshaw Cable & Wire Co. It’s two-acre park features a welcoming riverfront lawn, an easily accessible tidal marsh and a beach used for river exploration and seining.
Beczak educators work with approximately 20,000 children and families each year through in-school river education programs, field trips at its riverfront center and after school environmental clubs. Public programs include River Explorers and Fish Tales for children, Saturdays by the Fire lectures and Urban H2O concerts, Lunchtime Learning for seniors, Summer Adventures camp, and professional development for educators.
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