History, Natural History & the Arts
Cladophora is a type of stringy (filamentous) algae that grows on rocks, wood, logs, and other hard underwater surfaces in freshwater ecosystems, including the Great Lakes basin.
If you spot this type of stringy algae along New York’s Great Lakes beaches and shorelines, including Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the Niagara River or the St. Lawrence River, DEC wants to know. [Read more…] about Report Cladophora Along Great Lakes Shorelines
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Syracuse-based Great Lakes Research Consortium (GLRC) has announced $121,741 in grant awards for five research projects to help restore and protect the health of New York’s Great Lakes and surrounding communities. [Read more…] about Great Lakes Consortium Awards $121K in Research Grants
New York Sea Grant, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), has announced funding is now available for projects that engage youth under the age of 21 and address local watershed challenges and New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda priorities.
A total of $200,000, up to $25,000 per project, in New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants is expected to be awarded. [Read more…] about Grants Available For Great Lakes Youth Projects
State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released the 2018-2020 progress report on the restoration and protection of New York’s Great Lakes resources.
Prepared every two years, the report highlights partnerships and achievements completed during the prior two years, including improving resilience to coastal and tributary flooding impacts, protecting source waters, and accelerating restoration initiatives in communities that have been historically and disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution, called Environmental Justice communities. [Read more…] about Great Lakes Restoration and Protection Report Issued
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that pre-proposals for the 2021 Sustain Our Great Lakes (SOGL) grants are due February 16th. [Read more…] about Sustain Our Great Lakes Request for Proposals
Timing is everything! While contemplating a unique marker in the Sackets Harbor military cemetery a puzzling question came up. Why was Henderson, NY resident Joseph Hawkins, who never served in the military, buried in the military cemetery?
Coincidentally, Henderson Historical Society’s Eric Anderson was simultaneously researching Joseph Hawkins and shared clues. [Read more…] about A Military Cemetery Mystery Solved
Each fall, tributaries to the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain are home to salmon returning to spawn. This can make for some exciting fish watching as salmon move upstream and jump or otherwise navigate various obstructions on their way to their desired spawning sites. [Read more…] about DEC Announces Actions to Protect Salmon River Fish Populations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) have released the 2019 State of the Great Lakes (SOGL) report, which provides an overview of the status and trends of the Great Lakes ecosystem. [Read more…] about 2019 State of the Great Lakes Report Released
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Ohio River Valley proved to be a rich Agrarian region. Many different Native American peoples prospered from its land both in terms of the land’s ability to produce a wide variety of crops and its support of a wide variety of small fur-bearing animals for the fur trade.
In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History Susan Sleeper-Smith, a Professor of History at Michigan State University and author of Indigenous Prosperity and American Conquest: Indian Women and the Ohio River Valley, 1690-1792 (The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, 2018), helps us explore this unique region and the important roles it played in the early American past. [Read more…] about Native American History: The Ohio River Valley and Great Lakes Region
In The Heroic Age of Diving: America’s Underwater Pioneers and the Great Wrecks of Lake Erie (SUNY Press Excelsior Editions, 2016), Jerry Kuntz shares the fascinating stories of the pioneers of underwater invention and the brave divers who employed the new technologies as they raced with – and against – marine engineers to salvage the tragic wrecks of Lake Erie.
Beginning in 1837, some of the most brilliant engineers of America’s Industrial Revolution turned their attention to undersea technology. Inventors developed practical hard-helmet diving suits, as well as new designs of submarines, diving bells, floating cranes, and undersea explosives. These innovations were used to clear shipping lanes, harvest pearls, mine gold, and wage war. [Read more…] about The Heroic Age of Diving: America’s Underwater Pioneers