Education

(05/24/12) The impact colleges and universities have on North Country communities goes beyond dollars and cents.

That was the message from three higher education leaders who led a panel discussion last week at the Adirondack Research Consortium's 19th annual Conference on the Adirondacks.

The two-day conference included presentations on forest products and the future of the Adirondack Park, as well as discussions on climate change, sustainable communities and land use in the Adirondacks.

Chris Morris sat in for the discussion on the economic impact of higher education. more

(05/24/12) The Adirondack Interpretive Center in Newcomb will try a new twist on the "rubber duck race" on Saturday, using rubber loons instead. The event is part of the center's celebration of its first anniversary under the leadership of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Proceeds will support educational programs at the center.

The event will focus on the two most iconic symbols of human and natural history in the Adirondacks: logs and loons. Some 500 black-and-white rubber loons will be dropped into the Rich Lake outlet for a 425-yard floating race. Prizes will be awarded for those who sponsored the winners. Visitor's center program coordinator Paul Hai told Todd Moe that a California company, CelebriDucks, manufactured the rubber loons for the race.

(05/22/12) The Potsdam Village Board opened a public discussion on the size of the police force last night.

Two positions have remained unfilled since one sergeant resigned last year, and another was promoted to chief. That's prompted questions about how big a police force the village needs. more

(05/22/12) The Saranac Review is a literary journal published at SUNY Plattsburgh. Since 2004, the journal has slowly built a name for itself in the literary community. And this spring it received a big honor: two poems featured in the journal were nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. Sarah Harris has our story. more

(05/21/12) It's prime season for planting the vegetable garden. With hot, dry weather, tender new transplants and seeds need a little extra care. Cornell Cooperative extension horticulturist Amy Ivy tells Martha Foley that light, frequent watering can be key.

(05/21/12) IBM's Watson already has "Jeopardy!" under its belt. Now the computer giant is turning to the University of Rochester for ideas on what to do next. The Innovation Trail's Zack Seward explains. more

(05/21/12) A high school science teacher from Lake Placid wants to help the town of North Elba change the way it disposes of organic waste.

Tammy Morgan teaches biology and environmental science at Lake Placid Middle-High School. She recently delivered a preliminary report to the North Elba town board on a proposed project to install an anaerobic digester at the town-owned landfill.

As Chris Morris reports, some farms already use anaerobic digesters to process manure, but North Elba would become the first municipality on the East Coast to use this kind of technology to process food waste on site. more

(05/21/12) Every spring, a Department of Environmental Conservation biologist drives along north country highways at dawn or dusk, stopping every so often to pull over and listen. They're listening for the distinctive "peent" of the singing American woodcock, a brown speckled bird a little larger than a songbird with a long, narrow beak for pulling earthworms out of the ground.

The little game bird is under threat New York state, and the survey each year is meant to get a handle on what population trends are in this region. DEC regional spokesman Stephen Litwhiler is the happy host to several of the birds in his backyard in southern Jefferson County. He says the birds' appearance each year is his personal "harbinger of spring."

For this Heard Up North, reporter Joanna Richards donned camouflage and hid behind the birds' favorite tree in Litwhiler's backyard to get a close-up look - and listen. more

(05/18/12) Dr. Alexander Schreiber studies change--the metamorphosis of amphibians and flatfish. His St. Lawrence University biology lab teems with frogs and fish in various stages of development.

His enthusiasm for his subject sends him off campus to local grade schools. And at SLU, it attracts even English majors like our intern, Roger Miller. Schreiber told Roger he just never stopped being a kid.

Roger Miller is a senior at St. Lawrence University. He's worked as an intern in our news and web departments for the last couple of years. We'll miss him, and wish him well after graduation this weekend. more

(05/17/12) St. Lawrence County has had a Dairy Princess since 1964. Every year since then, a group of judges selects a wholesome young woman from the community to be the face of the local dairy industry.

To become the dairy princess a girl has to be between 16 and 21 years old, and has to compete in a pageant where she is judged on her public speaking ability, her general poise, and her knowledge of dairy products. Tasha Haverty takes us through this year's competition, and looks ahead to its future.