SELINSGROVE – Susquehanna University launched its all-new Freshwater Research Laboratory Tuesday. The laboratory was subsidized by a $2.25 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and the lab will provide students with a centralized location to research the health of the Susquehanna River and its wildlife.
John Arway, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, says the laboratory will benefit both the University and the scientific community, “This is the next big step. Susquehanna didn’t really have a facility like this before. This will give them a chance to recruit more students that are interested in helping the river and studying biology and ecology, and it’ll be a big boost for us understanding the river even better than we did.”
The new laboratory features an electrofishing boat and will house the Freshwater Research Initiative, which collaborates with several universities and non-profits to tackle problems pertaining to the Susquehanna.
Senior Research Assistant Dan Isenberg talks about how far the program has developed since his freshman year at Susquehanna University, “When I started at least we had one backpack shocker, a few nets, and we rode around in a school van. Now we have a shockboat, two trucks, three backpack shocker, tons of nets and tons of waders”
Arway said, coinciding with the launch of the new laboratory, is the launch of Save our Susquehanna program, which will allow people to purchase fishing licenses that will help fund research at the new laboratory. (Nick Rakauskas)