Marilyn Mayer Receives New York Power Authority Grant

Dr. Marilyn Mayer has received an award from the New York Power Authority's St. Lawrence River Research and Education Fund to launch a project aimed at assessing mercury levels in wetland wildlife in the St. Lawrence River Valley region. With more than 20 years of experience conducting aquatic research, Dr. Mayer will collaborate with a student researcher to collect samples from tree swallows, Blandings turtles, bull frogs, and bass. All samples will be analyzed for mercury at St. Lawrence in order to assess the degree to which mercury impacts our local wetland wildlife and to increase understanding of organism and wetland traits that increase the impact of mercury on wildlife. Specific consideration will be given to the effects wetland origin (natural vs. created), water level management, wetland age, and wetland type (riparian, marsh, etc.) have on mercury levels and their impact on wildlife.