The Mount Saint Mary College community celebrated Earth Day, April 22, with a pair of planet-friendly activities. First, honors students aided the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation”™s (DEC) eel-monitoring project in Newburgh”™s Quassaick Creek. The group, consisting of natural sciences majors, was led by Suparna Bhalla, associate professor of biology; and Lynn Maelia, professor of chemistry.
The students headed to the creek and counted eels that had been caught in nets. The tiny, nearly transparent American eels are born in the ocean and migrate upstream to live, eventually returning to the ocean to spawn. According to the DEC, the species is in decline.
Later in the day, a trio of Mount resident assistants planted flowers, vegetables and more in the garden at Bishop Dunn Memorial School on the Mount campus.
