New Metro at Stone Lab Blog!

This year, Stone Lab has asked several Metro High School students to document their experience while taking a one-week course on Gibraltar Island during the week of September 13, 2007.

A partnership between The Ohio State University and Battelle, Metro High School is a small and intellectually vibrant learning community open to students in Franklin County. Metro High School is designed to serve students who want a personalized and extraordinary learning experience that prepares them for a connected world where math, science and technology are vitally important. All Metro students engage in a personally relevant and academically rigorous curriculum within a safe and trusting environment.

Beginning this week, more than 30 Metro Students will take either Aquatic Biology or Insect Biology at Stone Lab. Visit metroatstonelab.blogspot.com to view first-hand accounts of Metro students exploring science and discovering themselves!

The Rock is Demanding

Classes and work got into a smooth rhythm. The Limnology midterm was fairly painless although it successfully caused major sleep deprivation. Those who have been here the whole summer are ready to leave, but I'm just getting used to the motions. I got a pay check a few days ago, woo hoo. Now it's almost over. Only nine days left and then I'm off to my last year of college life at Miami University of Ohio.

1st weekend, July 21st & 22nd

The first day of class went well, woke up, ate breakfast, 4 hours of lecture, lunch, and a boat ride out to Rattlesnake Island. We measured turbidity, conductivity, depth, pH, temperature with the Sonde, the Secchi and several other instruments. I learned a lot, but it was intense. The weekend was beautiful. Christmas in July couldn't have been on a better weekend. Watch out for those shots from the beer barrel, they taste waay too good. But the water taxi came through again and I made it home safe. After a day out on a friends boat soaking in the sun and an eventful paddle boat ride to Gibraltar I am now back in my dorm. Tomorrow I work again and will help with the lighthouse starting at 10:30. We will see what else good ol' Put-N-Bay has in store. Tootles.

Stone Lab in The Lantern!

Check out the article in The Lantern, OSU's campus newspaper about Stone Lab. Learn about the REU experience as Aaron Wibberely describes it, and even hear what professors think. Can't get enough of The Island Snake Lady, Kristin Stanford? Don't worry she's in there too!

Remote island lab offers students unique opportunity to learn - Campus

The first term is almost over and we're getting ready to welcome a new batch of bloggers, so keep an eye out for the new links to left.

Let the Blogging Begin!

Meet Erik our first blogger of the 2007 Stone Lab season! A 5th year senior at The Ohio State University, Erik is enrolled in the Field Herpetology course going on this week at Stone Lab. He'll be working side-by-side with Kristin Stanford, the Snake Lady featured on the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs TV show. Check out his blog and read all about his adventures wrangling Lake Erie water snakes this summer!

Stone Lab Now Hiring: Bloggers!

Last year marked the beginning of a new Stone Lab Communications Project: Student Blogs. More than 10 students participated in an online project to write journals and document their experiences over the summer while taking a course on Ohio State’s Island Campus. All the bloggers who participated earned a free Stone Lab drawstring backpack and were entered in a raffle for a pair of Cedar Point tickets for their hard work writing and maintaining their blogs all summer. Thanks to all the students who participated!

This summer, the search for bloggers continues. If you’re a student taking a course at Stone Lab and want to share your experiences, then writing a Stone Lab blog is for you! Your first-hand accounts of course work, field trips, and lab data will be used as a record of the different experiences offered at Stone Lab every summer. Future students will be just a click away from seeing what happens in a hands-on science class on Lake Erie. And remember, you’ll earn a free Stone Lab drawstring backpack, and maybe even two tickets to Cedar Point!

To read last year’s blogs, visit stonelaboratory.blogspot.com. For more information on blogging this summer, contact Daniella Nordin at 614.292.8949.

New Courses this Summer!

This summer Stone Laboratory will offer new opportunities for undergraduates and graduates in biological sciences, education, and natural resources. Spider Biology, Aquatic Entomology, and an Entomology REU will add to the already diverse offerings of more than 30 different science courses available on Gibraltar Island.

EEOB 694: Spider Biology
The shores of Lake Erie are famous for both the abundance and the variety of spiders that live there. Dr. Richard Bradley, Associate Professor of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at Ohio State’s Marion Campus, will cover all you could ever want to know about spiders during the week of July 8–14.

For the first time at Stone Lab, students will be introduced to the diversity of spiders, along with their behavior and ecology. They will learn how to identify and become familiar with the most common spider families in Ohio.

Other topics will include spider anatomy, classification, and web building techniques. Spiders are among the most important predators in natural ecosystems and are effective at controlling pest insect populations. “The behavior of spiders is surprisingly complex and fascinating,” notes Bradley. “I am excited to offer a course dedicated solely to them.”

ENT 612: Aquatic Entomology
Northwest Ohio is abundant with aquatic habitats ranging from wetlands and rivers to lakes. Dr. Ferenc de Szalay, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Kent State University, and his students will explore aquatic ecosystems and the insects that inhabit them.

Aquatic Entomology, offered from July 19–August 18, will teach students about aquatic insect anatomy and ecology as well as field sampling and identification techniques. The course will combine lectures on insect biology with field trips to sample habitats, using Ekman dredges, core samples, activity traps, and sweep nets.

“Stone Lab is the perfect site to teach Aquatic Entomology,” says de Szalay. “Students will see aquatic insects in a wide range of freshwater habitats, from coastal and inland wetlands to rivers.” Understanding aquatic insects has many practical applications. For example, they are key components of food webs, and they can be important indicators of water quality.

Entomology REU Scholarship Program
Stone Lab’s REU Scholarship Program offers students a real-world research experience in data collection and analysis, scientific reading and writing, and oral presentation skills while providing a full scholarship for tuition, room and board, and lab fees.

Overseen by Dr. Doug Kane, Visiting Assistant Professor Biology/Toxicology at Ashland University, the new entomology REU will allow students to investigate the devastating effects of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a non-native beetle that entered the United States in the summer of 2002.

“During visits to several Lake Erie islands, students will determine forest composition by identifying trees and measuring their densities and sizes,” states Kane. “They will look for new evidence of EAB activity and examine the ecological effects of this beetle.” The data gathered can help homeowners, arborists and landscapers make informed decisions about treating trees for this borer.


For more information on these and other opportunities offered at Stone Laboratory, visit our website.

Student Spotlights

Just so everyone knows, the new Summer/Fall Double Issue of Twine Line is ready to go!

Check out Jennifer Yi's student spotlight on page 19 and don't forget to read Justin Chaffin's Research Review on page 16.

Just a reminder, all applications for courses, jobs, scholarships, and REU's are due next month!