Science Diary: Mohonk – Records
PH: “What is very fascinating to me is that someone made this same walk to this weather box over the last 41,664 days.”
JM: Making observations, gathering data and keeping records. It may not sound glamorous, but it’s all part of the foundation of virtually every branch of scientific research. Welcome to Pulse of the Planet’s Science Diaries, a glimpse of the world of science from the inside. Paul Huth is director of research at the Mohonk Preserve, in New York’s Hudson Valley. It’s a place with a long tradition of observing and recording the rhythms of nature.
PH: There were two points. One was seeing things and being excited by what you see. But then as a naturalist you come back and you record it. And how you record it; how do you translate through your eyes into a record; how do you get that accurately? And then, of course, in keeping all of those records, is what do you do with them? How do you interpret them for land management, or for public education? What do you do with all of that?
JM: In the winter, one of the measurements that Paul Huth makes regularly is the depth of the ice on Mohonk Lake.
PH: “We have right here a fisherman’s drill, and I’ll just pick a spot that looks good and smooth, and we’ll drill through the water.” [sounds of ice drilling and breaking through to water splashing] “Okay, we’ve reached through the ice. Let’s see if I can get a reading here. It’s just 8 inches thick, and what’s great about this old measuring rod”
JM: The thickness of the ice will be included in the 115 years of continuous records of weather and nature observations kept at Mohonk. Pulse of the Planet’s Science Diaries are made possible by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.