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This summer, Maureen Auro ’03 (Garden City, N.Y.) will have an opportunity to explore marine science up close through The Coastal Ecology Learning Program.
Based in Huntington, N.Y., The Coastal Ecology Learning Program offers shipboard and shore-side marine science programs that promote hands-on learning through the study of marsh ecology, land use, coastal pollution, recycling, erosion, and weather influences. Though the focus is science, the curriculum also includes discussion of sociological, economic, and historical issues that pertain to the marine environment.
While sailing on a 71-foot schooner, Auro, who graduated with a degree in biology last month, will take samples at various depths to determine water quality through the measurement of salinity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, and nutrient levels. She will also have an opportunity to examine wild life indigenous to different regions and record and discuss her findings.
Auro was first introduced to this type of research during an independent study with Nancy McCreary Waters, associate professor of biology, in which she assessed the water quality of a New Jersey stream by studying organisms like fly larvae, crayfish, and leeches. This water analysis gives regional, state, and national regulators more information for decisions on managing waterways. She was one of 22 Lafayette students who presented their findings at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science April 4-6 in Grantville, Pa.
Auro was foil captain of the fencing team, an executive board member of Newman Association, and a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.