Authors
Catherine Landis, PhD
Department of Environmental and Forest Biology
SUNY ESF, Syracuse, NY
I was born and raised in Syracuse, not far from Onondaga Lake, during the golden age of soda ash production at the Solvay Process plant. The smell of the semet tar ponds along Interstate Route 690 takes me back to my childhood, in fact, and memories of driving along this road with my parents. It was years before it ever occurred to me that Onondaga Lake could be anything other than the world's most polluted lake. When I began the study of Ecology at SUNY ESF, I began to think "ecologically" about all landscapes and the life therein. I began to wonder, What was Onondaga Lake like 100, 200, 500 years ago?
I'd like to share with you the answers I've found to this question. Incomplete as they might be, they nonetheless shed some light on what Onondaga Lake was like in the not-so-distant past, and what it could be in the future. The project has expanded beyond the Lake itself to include a wider swathe of central NY state, as explained in the section on "Historical Ecology." In a sense it is my response to the question, "Where are we?" on the scale of a day's walk from the "village." I've compiled ecological, historical, and other data to respond to this question. All the writing to date is my own, including any mistakes, though I've tried hard to avoid errors by citing multiple sources to piece together this story. My major professors, listed below, provided the inspiration, guidance, and financial support to make this project possible.
Department of Environmental and Forest Biology
SUNY ESF, Syracuse, NY
I was born and raised in Syracuse, not far from Onondaga Lake, during the golden age of soda ash production at the Solvay Process plant. The smell of the semet tar ponds along Interstate Route 690 takes me back to my childhood, in fact, and memories of driving along this road with my parents. It was years before it ever occurred to me that Onondaga Lake could be anything other than the world's most polluted lake. When I began the study of Ecology at SUNY ESF, I began to think "ecologically" about all landscapes and the life therein. I began to wonder, What was Onondaga Lake like 100, 200, 500 years ago?
I'd like to share with you the answers I've found to this question. Incomplete as they might be, they nonetheless shed some light on what Onondaga Lake was like in the not-so-distant past, and what it could be in the future. The project has expanded beyond the Lake itself to include a wider swathe of central NY state, as explained in the section on "Historical Ecology." In a sense it is my response to the question, "Where are we?" on the scale of a day's walk from the "village." I've compiled ecological, historical, and other data to respond to this question. All the writing to date is my own, including any mistakes, though I've tried hard to avoid errors by citing multiple sources to piece together this story. My major professors, listed below, provided the inspiration, guidance, and financial support to make this project possible.
Dr. Donald J. Leopold
Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair
Department of Environmental and Forest Biology SUNY-ESF
Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair
Department of Environmental and Forest Biology SUNY-ESF
Dr Robin Wall Kimmerer
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor
Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor
Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
