Ossining Students Named Finalists in Young Naturalist Competition

Ossining High School’s Pamela Brigleb and Jessica Fleischman have been named finalists in the American Museum of Natural History’s Young Naturalist competition.

Brigleb has been investigating whether the American eel population is declining in tributaries of the Hudson River, while Fleischman has been studying how weather
affects the calls migratory birds make. Both students developed their projects in the Science Research Program at Ossining High School.

For her project, Brigleb collected American eel from specific Hudson River tributaries every morning from March through June of the past two years. Using equipment obtained through grant funds from Ossining MATTERS, Brigleb also monitored water quality factors such as ph, temperature and conductivity and tracked biological indicators of stream health.

What she found was that although the American eel population has declined 90 percent in the past few decades, the population of American eel in Hudson River
tributaries has increased during the past two years. This contradicts past research data dating back to 1977.

If she were to continue her research, Brigleb said she would monitor environmental factors over a longer period of time, study more tributaries and look at metal content
in the water.

Asked how it felt to be named a finalist in the Museum of Natural History’s Young Naturalist competition, Brigleb said “It is a great honor to be recognized.” But more than the recognition, she said, “It was a great experience to be able
to be part of my environment for the past two years by monitoring the ecosystem and species.”

Fleischman’s project involved collecting audio data of the calls that migratory birds make at night and analyzing the production of those calls in relation to the weather. Song birds migrate long distances at night and use “night flight calls” to help orient themselves, communicate and prevent collisions.

Fleischman mounted an acoustic microphone on the school in the fall of 2011. From 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. for 40 nights during the fall and another 40 nights in the spring of
2012, she collected audio of night flight calls. In all, she collected more than 20,000 night flight calls in the fall and spring and then compared those calls to standardized weather data.

Fleishman found that while  birds chose not to fly
during unfavorable conditions in the fall, they did fly during less than optimal weather conditions in the spring. To compensate for those poor weather conditions, the birds produced more night flight calls.

Fleischman’s research was the first to correlate night flight calls and weather conditions. Ultimately, it could be used to help conservationists in efforts to protect certain bird species.

Fleischman said she would not have been successful without the critical assistance of her mentors, Dr. J. Alan Clark, assistant professor of biological sciences at
Fordham University; and Bill Evans, director of Old Bird Inc., who developed the acoustic microphone she used to collect the calls.

“Getting a good mentor is really the luck of the draw,” she said. “I was extremely lucky to work with Bill Evans and Dr. Clark. Dr. Clark taught me statistics and made
sure I understood everything while Bill Evans invented the equipment I used.”

The Young Naturalist Competition selects 12 winners, two from each grade seven through 12,  from hundreds of entries nationwide. Students research questions about biology, Earth Science, astronomy and ecology
and then recount their investigations and findings in an essay, which is judged by a museum panel. Winners will be announced in mid-April.

In addition to conducting ground-breaking research, Brigleb and Fleishman have been involved in many activities both inside and outside school. Fleishman who plans to study stage management in college is vice president of the high school Drama Club, and will participate in I-SWEEP (International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad) in Houston, Texas, in May.

Brigleb who hopes to major in biomedical engineering is president of the Engineering Club, a varsity swimmer, Girl Scout and pianist. She will compete with the school
robotics team at the FIRST Tech International Competition in St. Louis later this year.

Valerie Holmes, who teaches the science research class along with Angelo Piccirillo, said “I think it is really nice that there is a competition like this that recognizes students whose projects highlight field work. We need to keep conservation and the environment in the forefront for this generation.”