NATURE’S BALANCE
Middle-schoolers get handson lessons at wildlife habitat
RENSSELAER, N.Y.>> Seventhgraders from Rensselaer Junior- Senior High School have a hands- on opportunity this week to learn about the science of the animal kingdom.
About 50 students are attending classes at the BASF Environmental Education Classroom and Wildlife Habitat, located on the site of a former BASF manufacturing plant along the Hudson River. Students have been learning about the movement and nesting behavior of northern map turtles and saw a demonstration of the telemetry tracking equipment being used to monitor the turtles. The students also participated in an ex- periment through the Kid’s Lab Fresh Water Phun program developed by BASF.
Northern map turtles, also called common map turtles, are the most abundant of all map turtle species, according to the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Library. The females can be as long as 10 ½ inches, though males are usually less than 6 inches long.
The map turtle tracking study was developed by Dr. James Gibbs, a world-renowned turtle expert from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University, and Alvin
Breisch, a former herpetologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
BASF is working with the DEC to identify ideal locations for possible re-introduction of the map turtle, including habitat enhancements, with the ultimate goal being the re- establishing of a map turtle population along the Hudson River.
BASF opened the habitat and educational center in 2011 as part of the chemical company’s $20 million environmental cleanup of the site of its Riverside Avenue plant, which closed in 2000 after producing dye and dye-related products since the 1880s.