Lake Walks
Mondays at 4:15 pm
Meet at the Shoreline and Wetland Gardens
(between the Children’s Beach and the Pier Building in Lower Miller Park)
Week 1
Planting a Native Rain Garden
Monday, June 23rd at 4:15PM
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Betsy Burgeson
Chautauqua Institution
Since 2015, Betsy has been transforming the grounds to a new level of excellence by designing and implementing innovative ecologically and economically sound plans. She demonstrates an exemplary work ethic and effort with projects such as returning the Arboretum to its original purpose as an outdoor nature classroom and implementing the century-old plan for the Ellen Biddle Shipman Garden at Miller Edison Cottage.
Betsy earned a Bachelor of Science in earth science and biology education at SUNY Fredonia. She then taught biology for seven years at Panama Central in southern Chautauqua County. There, from 2008 to 2009, she held a grant position that promoted outreach and greater public awareness of the effects of human activity on the health of Chautauqua Lake. Betsy grew up locally and is a “third-generation gardener.” ​It was her love for gardens, ecology, and Chautauqua Lake that led Betsy to the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and ultimately to Chautauqua Institution.
Week 2
Sewage Treatment Plan Tour
Monday, June 30th at 4:15PM
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Mike Starks
Chautauqua Utility District
Mike Starks is the superintendent of the Chautauqua Utility District (CUD). Thoroughly trained on the array of new management and diagnostic tools afforded by the new wastewater treatment plant, Starks is excited to lead the CUD into a new era of ecological responsibility and efficiency.
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After working for two summers at the Chautauqua sewer plant, he secured a full-time position there and began working on the numerous certifications needed.
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A Chautauqua County native, Starks studied biology and water treatment facility management at Jamestown Community College and continued his education through the SUNY Empire correspondence course curriculum.
Week 3
Native Plants Along the Shoreline
Monday, July 10th at 4:15PM
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Jonathan Townsend
Royal Fern Nursery
A man of many talents, this summer Jonathan will host our Native Plant Sale, as well as lead a Bat Chat and a Lake Walk for us. Jonathan grew up near Olean, NY, where he developed a love and passion for the natural world, particularly bat biology and conservation. This fascination with ecological relationships led him to pursue a BS in Environmental Science and an MS in Biology, both from SUNY Fredonia. Jonathan has worked with various state and local municipalities, private environmental consultants, and nonprofits in his career and focuses on studying bats and promoting the many benefits they provide. In 2024, Mr. Townsend was awarded a PhD in Biogeography from the University at Buffalo, where he investigated bat habitat use, diet, and the potential for plastic pollution to impact bats through the insects they eat and the water they drink. He also works as a Biologist and Native Plant Specialist at Royal Fern Nursery, a native plant nursery specializing in western New York flora. Jonathan sits on the Board of Directors at Greystone’s Bat Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary and is an Adjunct Professor in the Geography Department at UB.
Week 4
Chautauqua Lake's Fisheries
Monday, July 17th at 4:15PM
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Justin Brewer
NY Department of Environmental Conservation
Justin Brewer is a fisheries biologist with NYSDEC’s Region 9 Allegany Office. He holds degrees in Natural Resource Conservation and Fisheries Technology from Finger Lakes Community College and a B.T. in Fisheries and Aquaculture from SUNY Cobleskill.
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Justin has been with Region 9 Fisheries for about 13 years. His primary duties involve management of various inland warmwater fisheries resources in southern counties of Region 9, including Chautauqua Lake. Born and raised on the banks of the Allegheny River in western NY, Justin has been an avid angler in Chautauqua Lake and surrounding waters for over 20 years. He is grateful to pursue a career working on the same lakes, rivers, and streams that fueled his passion for fishing and resource conservation at a young age. In his spare time, Justin enjoys spending time with family and friends, often fishing, hunting, hiking, traveling, gardening, and exploring wild places.
Week 5
Birds Along the Shoreline
Monday, July 24th at 4:15PM
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Twan Leenders
Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy
Twan currently serves as the Director of Conservation for the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy. He is a biologist from The Netherlands whose interests are in birds, animal ecology and conservation management, with a specialty in amphibians and reptiles.
Twan is also an avid nature photographer and writes and illustrates field guides. For more than twenty-five years, his work with birds, mammals, plants and especially tropical amphibians and reptiles has taken him to various places on the planet.
As a former researcher at Yale University’s Peabody Museum and other institutions, he participated in many international expeditions that helped gather data to better understand and protect biologically important areas and their unique species and habitats. He applies the conservation and ecological restoration lessons he learned across the globe here in Chautauqua County.
Twan is the author of Amphibians of Costa Rica and Reptiles of Costa Rica and coauthor of The Wildlife of Costa Rica. His photographs have been featured in many books and magazines, including National Geographic, New Scientist and National Wildlife.
Before coming to western NY, Twan taught biology at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT and led the Science and Conservation Office of the Connecticut Audubon Society. Prior to his current position, he was President of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.
Week 6
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Monday, July 31st at 4:15PM
Check back in for talk title soon!
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Dr. Allison Hrycik
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Lakes are active and teeming with life, even in the winter. However, winters are changing. We have seen decreased ice cover and changes in snow fall that affect many lake processes. We will talk about some strategies that allow organisms to survive and thrive in lakes in winter and discuss how changes in winter conditions set the stage for summer algae blooms.
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Allison Hrycik is a research scientist for the Jefferson Project, which is a collaboration between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and IBM Research to understand human impacts on lakes. Allison is based locally to research harmful algal blooms on Chautauqua Lake and works closely with Chautauqua Institution and SUNY Fredonia.
She is originally from Colden, NY and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources from Cornell University, a Master’s in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from Purdue University, and a PhD in Biology from University of Vermont. During her PhD, she studied how changing winter conditions help set the stage for algae blooms during the open water season.
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Prior to her position on Chautauqua Lake, Allison was a research scientist at SUNY Buffalo State College working on water quality monitoring in the Great Lakes. Her current projects include monitoring lake bottom algae, understanding nutrient inputs from the Chautauqua Lake watershed, and working with colleagues on Lake George to understand the different drivers of algae blooms in different lake types.
Week 7
Monday, August 7th at 4:15PM
Invasives
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Andrea Locke
Buffalo State
Andrea Locke has over twenty years’ experience working in ecology, restoration and invasive species management and has served as the Coordinator for WNY PRISM (Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management) since the office was established in 2014. WNY PRISM works to improve, restore and protect local aquatic and terrestrial resources by improving the effectiveness of invasive species management efforts, increasing awareness of invasive species issues and engaging with partners and the public throughout the western New York region. Andrea’s time with WNY PRISM has seen the partnership grow to include over 200 partner organizations and to operate programs that focus on invasive species removal, community science, spread prevention and education.
Week 8
Streams: Connectors from Watersheds to Lakes
Monday, August 14th at 4:15PM
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Courtney Wigdahl-Perry
SUNY Fredonia
Join us to learn about key nutrients that drive algae and plant growth in lake systems. We will discuss overviews of nitrogen and phosphorus, including sources and processes broadly as well as how we are working to understand the role of nutrients in shaping the ecology of our own Chautauqua Lake.
Wigdahl-Perry is an aquatic ecologist, interested in lake response to natural and human-caused environmental changes on different spatial and temporal scales.
She embarked on her lake research journey in 2003, when she was an undergraduate student. During a summer fellowship that year, she studied high-elevation lakes in Montana and Wyoming with faculty members of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
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She took an interest in studying lakes, and the algae that were living there, and how humans’ interaction affects the ecosystem of the lake.
Now, 20 years later, Wigdahl-Perry is associate professor in SUNY Fredonia’s biology department
Week 9
Water Treatment Plant Tour
Monday, August 21st at 4:15PM
Meet at the Shoreline Buffer Gardens (Next to Pier Building)
Mike Starks
Chautauqua Institution
Mike Starks is the superintendent of the Chautauqua Utility District (CUD). Thoroughly trained on the array of new management and diagnostic tools afforded by the new wastewater treatment plant, Starks is excited to lead the CUD into a new era of ecological responsibility and efficiency.
​
After working for two summers at the Chautauqua sewer plant, he secured a full-time position there and began working on the numerous certifications needed.
​
A Chautauqua County native, Starks studied biology and water treatment facility management at Jamestown Community College and continued his education through the SUNY Empire correspondence course curriculum.