Intro to Plant Life (BIO115) takes a field trip to New Paltz's Community Gardening Project, Gardens for Nutrition.
11/03/2008
“The New Paltz Gardens for Nutrition was founded in 1976 as part of the counter-culture movement, aided, no doubt, by the economic incentive of double-digit inflation during the 1970s. Today the gardens encompass a large grid of 150 individual 20-by-20-foot plots filled with vegetables, flowers, herbs, bushes, and trees set hard against the Wallkill River on a five-acre flood plain. The gardens have running water for gardening and a separate line of potable town water; three years ago, a solar-powered electric deer fence was installed around the entire grid. Gardening tools, wheelbarrows, and lawnmowers are provided and are maintained or replaced yearly. Unlike other gardens, New Paltz is not re-plowed each year. While this means that gardeners can return year after year to their ever-growing perennials, it can also mean that newcomers may have to work hard to undo what their predecessors left behind.”
"Hidden from most major roads, the New Paltz gardens have a cloistered feel, and the atmosphere is friendly. Visitors can enjoy the aromas wafting from each unique plot, whether it is filled with exhibitionistic peonies or shy, retiring herbs like lemon thyme. There is a stunning variety of plants on display, and quirky individual touches grace nearly every garden plot. Sculptures, bird feeders, hand-painted signs - all point to the gardener's personality and vision." --- From New York House Magazine: http://www.upstatehouse.com/archive/article.php?issue=12&dept=32&id=175.
Biology Field Trip to Iona Island
10/07/2008
On September 23rd, Dr Carol Rietsma's graduate course, Wetlands Ecology, took a field trip down the Hudson about 39 miles south of New Paltz to Iona Island:
"Iona Island is one of the four National Estuarine Research Reserves on the Hudson River (including Piermont Marsh, Tivoli Bay, and Stockport Flats). This approximately 120-acre site is located at the southern gate of the Hudson Highlands. ... Iona Island and adjacent Salisbury Marsh encompass several distinct habitats, including deciduous forest, freshwater and brackish tidal wetlands and riverine habitats." (<--from the Rockland County Audubon Society website: http://www.rocklandaudubon.org/iona_island.htm)
Here at Iona Island, students inspect and attempt to identify a myriad of plants in Salisbury Marsh. In a recent (2000) BioBlitz survey, 405 plant species were recorded. Fifteen or so rare/endangered species are found here. For example, 2 to 5 bald eagles overwinter on the island each year and from 35 to 40 are seen nearby along the river.
All this, and only a 50 minute drive from campus .... we are truly in field biologist heaven!
September 9, 2008. We welcome back our dual degree, BS/DO students. Fall Orientation, SUNY NP/NYCOM BS/DO Program
09/17/2008
Kathryn Reed, Executive Director of the Catskill Hudson Area Health Education Center (CHAHEC), greets first, second and third year students in the BS/DO program. CHAHEC is one of a number of supporters of this dual degree program between SUNY New Paltz and the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM).
Over the past ten years, 80 BS/DO program students have gone on to medical school. We love to hear back from them. Neil Panchal started at NYCOM this August. Apparently, he is doing quite well! We thank Neil for his kind words:
August 26, 2008
Hello!
Just thought to drop a line or two and update you on my life at Medical school. I am at NYCOM in Old Westbury now and already into the second week of classes. Classes started off pretty quickly and the plethora of information has buried me in my room day in and out. I have finally adapted myself to a routine schedule of classes and studying, with only about 30 min to myself a day. The curriculum is structured on a systemic basis so that we learn about the different systems of the body one at a time. This first month or so is a fundamental "Intro to Osteopathy" which has actually turned into a full year's worth of Biological Chemistry, Cell/ Molecular Bio, and Comparative Anatomy! Seems like a lot ehh? Actually not.
Because of the wonderful job that my professors at SUNY New Paltz did teaching me the essential material necessary for the foundation of a career in medicine, I am well prepared and simply "reviewing" this material so far. Others are having difficulty learning it saying, "I never learned it correctly in undergrad..." or "My professor didn't teach us properly" In the last two days only, we went over everything about Proteins, Enzymes including inhibition and MM/ LB graphs, Cell Membrane Transport, all of Metabolism, and every muscle in the back including the Superficial, Intermediate, and Deep Back muscles all the way through the Spinal Cord. AND I ALREADY KNOW ALL OF THIS!!! (OH and by the way, I have already started dissecting a human cadaver and I'm loving it!).
So basically what I'm trying to say is Thank You so much for being absolutely excellent teachers and making sure I was ready to take on Medical School. Without your training and guidance, the transition would have been that much more difficult. I hope that you are in the best of health and that we can keep in touch so that I can still feel like I am at New Paltz. Thank you again and eager to hear from you,
Contact Information
Department of Biology
Coykendall Science Building, Room 106
SUNY New Paltz
1 Hawk Drive
New Paltz, NY 12561-2443
Phone: (845) 257-3770
Fax: (845) 257-3791