Learning About the Hudson River Estuary

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
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Hudson RiverNet
News from the Hudson River Estuary Program

In This Issue:

  • Learning About the Hudson River Estuary: 2021 Highlights
  • The Institute Discovering Environmental Science
  • Eels Along the Hudson
  • Women in Science Webinar Series
  • Grants Support the Environmental Education
  • Hudson River Lesson Plans

Learning About the Hudson River Estuary: 2021 Highlights

To inspire and engage people to become good stewards of the tidal Hudson and its ecosystem, learning about and experiencing the Hudson River first-hand is essential. The Estuary Program, in partnership with the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, implements a wide range of field and classroom programs to introduce students of all ages, residents, and visitors to the fish and wildlife, tides and currents, and habitats of the tidal Hudson and its watershed. The Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda sets a course to carry out this work through place-based programs, community science, exhibits, and curricula.

3 young women paddling in canoes.


The Institute Discovering Environmental Scientists (TIDES)

A young woman uses a test tube to examine drops of water.The Institute Discovering Environmental Scientists (TIDES) is a summer field research and laboratory science experience with DEC’s Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Hudson River Estuary Program, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and the Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship. Fifteen high school and college students from communities across the Hudson Valley completed an innovative two-week research program together with education staff and scientists at the Norrie Point Environmental Center in Staatsburg.

The students conducted environmental research projects along the banks of the Hudson River and in freshwater tidal wetlands examining the water quality, plant life, and fish biological diversity of the estuary. This was the third year of the program. Guest scientists lead research seminars for the students throughout the program, introducing them to a wider world of environmental science monitoring and communication. The students worked together to formulate scientific questions, gather field data, conduct scientific analysis, and present their final research. DEC is helping to make the program a model for other environmental centers in New York.


Eels For Experiencing and Learning Science

5 young women in waders stand in a stream holding nets.From late March to early May, teachers, students, and partner environmental organizations participate in DEC’s Hudson River Eel Project to monitor migrating juvenile American eels (Anguilla rostrata). American eels hatch in the Sargasso Sea north of Puerto Rico, and every spring they arrive in estuaries like the Hudson River as translucent, two-inch long "glass eels." In 2021, 400 volunteers helped count 80,764 eels at 12 streams that flow into the tidal Hudson from Staten Island to Troy, contributing data for multi-state management plans for eel conservation.

In the summer and fall, volunteers also check eel ladders or “eel-evators” at the base of dams that act as barriers to upstream eel migration. Twenty-nine volunteers counted, measured, and released 247 eels to upstream habitats at three sites. Students and volunteers also assisted with electrofishing surveys and a mark-recapture study to investigate eel growth, movement, and maturity, including a fall survey on adult migration out of the freshwater stream toward their oceanic spawning grounds.

numerous tiny see-through glass eels


Women in Science Webinar Series

A young woman wearing glasses next to a display of fish skeletons.

The Hudson River Estuary Program hosted a series of seven webinars featuring women who are inventors, engineers, boat captains, scientists, marine biologists, and environmental justice advocates. The speakers discussed climate health, fisheries research, microplastics, marine navigation, and overcoming barriers and challenges in the field of science and education. More than 600 people attended the webinars. The women in science webinar series is continuing this year.


Grants Support Environmental Education

3 young women sit at a table and with bottles of water samples taking notes.The Media Alliance, a community-based nonprofit organization in North Troy, has converted an abandoned building into a do-it-yourself science laboratory and environmental education center, named the NATURE Lab (North Troy Art Technology and Urban Research in Ecology). The center is a community science biology laboratory that includes a classroom and meeting space, a wet lab with an aquarium, and a dry lab with scientific equipment. Media Alliance was awarded a River Education grant from DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program to teach residents of Troy and surrounding areas about the important role of the Hudson River Estuary.

The grant was used to equip a wet lab with aquariums showcasing local fish species and wildlife and a dry lab with microscopes. This equipment is helping teach community members about the river, and to train them to monitor it for changes. The Nature Lab opened in the summer of 2021. Read more about it in DEC’s October/November Conservationist


The Virtual Hudson River

3 young women in waders show a fish bowl of fish from the Hudson RiverAs schools shifted to online learning, Hudson River estuary educators found new ways of connecting with students, teachers, and families. The Virtual River introduces the natural world of the Hudson through educational videos, interactive lessons, and activities for students. Programs, adapted to virtual formats, introduce students to topics such as climate change, microplastics, and other issues facing our nation's estuaries. DEC’s YouTube channel features short Estuary Live! videos on topics such as tides, fish, microplastics, and vernal pools. As students returned to the classroom, educators visited classes virtually and began once again to offer in-person programs.


Teaching About the Hudson River Estuary

A young students sits at his desk gluing a picture of an eel to a worksheet.This year, estuary educators completed a new Hudson River Unit of Study for K-12 classrooms. The lessons were reviewed by classroom teachers and other curriculum specialists, and include original lessons from the Estuary Program, as well as excellent curriculum designed by our many partners.

This inquiry-based, multi-component science guide is designed for teachers and students to enhance STEM learning, as well as deepen their engagement and understanding of the Hudson River and its watershed. Six interdisciplinary units are designed to engage diverse learning styles, introduce students to the big ideas in science, build their knowledge of environmental issues, and help them connect to the natural world around them. Each unit is arranged by topic, and each topic has three levels: Elementary, Middle, and High school.

The units are adaptable to individual needs and designed so that students build key ideas and understanding of events and phenomena over time as they progress through their schooling. Teachers may complete all of the lessons in each unit or choose those that best fit their needs in the classroom, remotely, or out in the field.