Current students

Alex Allen

Program: MS Lake Management
Project description: I am currently working on White Birch Lake, in Broome County, New York. I will be collecting baseline data and creating a plan for the management of the lake.

Jessica Casey

Program: MS Lake Management
Project description: I am currently working on Duane Lake, a manmade lake located in Schenectady County. I am focusing on watershed nutrients, and will create a lake management plan for the Duane Lake Association. This lake is home to both seasonal and year-round residents. I have also done aquatic plant work on Chautauqua Lake, located in western New York.

Eli Creedon

Program: MS Lake Management
Project description: I am currently monitoring and developing a watershed management plan for Horseshoe Pond and Deer River Flow, located in Franklin County and the Northern Adirondack Park.

Ben Cuppett

Program: MS Lake Management
Project description: I am currently studying Otter Lake in Oneida County, New York. This lake is home to many residents and is used for many forms of recreation. About 15 years ago Grass carp were stocked in their lake to control plants. During my program I will be going compiling past data and collecting new data to make a management plan for Otter Lake.

Alex Javitz

Program: MS Lake Lake Management
Project description: I am studying Loon Lake in Wayland, NY. This is a residential kettle lake within the Finger Lakes Region of western New York. During my study, I will use previous data collected from CSLAP reports along with the data that I collect to create a management plan for Loon Lake.

Nicholas Jordan

Program: MS Biology
Project description: The focus of my thesis is on the cold-water fishery of Otsego Lake, NY, using current and historical data to better understand lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) population size structure and fish condition. Through the years there has been a dynamic shift in the lake food web and trophic status that effect lake trout as the top predator of the cold-water fishery. I will be using gill net surveys of lake trout form the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) collected over the past 3 decades coupled with modern hydro acoustics methods to help quantify current population status.

Kari Minissale

Program: MS Biology
Project description: I am an MS Biology student with a focus on the aquatic sciences. My thesis work is focused on distribution of American eel Anguilla rostrata in the upper Susquehanna River watershed using a combination of electrofishing and environmental DNA (eDNA). Outside of this lab, I also work with endangered and imperiled freshwater pearly mussels, and I am a research SCUBA diver and certified rescue diver.

Asia Rose

Program: MS Lake Management
Project description: I am currently studying Moreau Lake in Saratoga County, NY. Moreau Lake is a kettle lake previously used as a hunting and fishing camp. Currently, the lake is located on state park land and is used for recreational purposes by many. During my study, I will use previous data along with the data I collect in order to create a management plan for Moreau Lake.

Derek Shea

Program: MS Lake Management
Project description: I am studying Craine Lake in Earlville, NY. This residential private lake has a long record of water quality CSLAP data. The areas of investigation, based on stakeholder feedback, will likely be the aquatic plant community, septic efficiency, and harmful algal bloom occurrence and mitigation. Through the collection and analysis of data, I will work to develop an action orientated management plan that will allow them to consider management strategies and permitting options.

John (Danny) Skelton

Program: MS Biology
Project description: I am working with lake sturgeon (Acipenser fluvescens) in the St. Lawrence River, where artificial spawning locations have been provided for these fish. I will create an index of abundance to better understand seasonal, annual, and spatial trends in spawning lake sturgeon. This will serve to better inform science and management of these primitive fish.

Former graduate students (chronological)

Brandon Guerrero: MS Biology (2023)
Matthew Best: MS Biology (2023)
Sinead Comerford: MS Lake Management (2023)
Lucas Le Tarte: MS Lake Management (2022)
David Pfuhler: MS Lake Management (2020)
Samantha Carey: MS Lake Management (2020)
Cindy Sosa: MS Lake Management (2020)
Hayley Dower: MS Biology (2020)
Erin Gilligan: MS Biology (2020)
Stradder Caves: MS Lake Management (2019)
David Andrews: MS Lake Management (2019)
Joseph O’Reilly: MS Lake Management (2019)
George Smith: MS Lake Management (2019)
Ryan Elliott: MS Lake Management (2019)
Joseph (Ben) Casscles: MS Lake Management (2018)
Edward Kwietniewski: MS Lake Management (2017)
Christian Jenne: MS Lake Management (2017)
Alejandro (AJ) Reyes: MS Lake Mangement (2016)