PASCO and the Black Rock Forest Program

PASCO is proud to part of the Black Rock Forest program. The Black Rock Forest program offers teachers and students a unique opportunity to explore 3,785 acres of forest located in the Hudson Highlands on the west bank of the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City. The land remains relatively pristine and was established as a research and demonstration forest early in the 20th century. In 1989, the region was set aside as a natural area for perpetuity.

The forest is administrated and used as a field station by the Black Rock Forest Consortium. Key members include:

Columbia University
Lamont Dougherty Earth Observatory
New York University
Dalton School
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
American Museum of Natural History
Barnard College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
New York Academy of Sciences
New York - New Jersey Trail Conference

One exciting program offered at Black Rock is the School in the Forest, which serves disadvantaged inner city elementary and middle school students. The program's mission is to:

Provide woodland experiences to urban children.
Enhance students' development of observational skills, curiosity, scientific thinking, data collection, data analysis, multi-modal documentation and the use of technology.
Encourage an appreciation for the natural environment that leads to future ecological awareness and a desire to protect the wilderness.

Additionally, science classes from many of the best-known Manhattan and suburban independent schools are members of the consortium and use the forest and the scientific equipment available there with regularity. The schools include: Browning School, Convent of the Sacred Heart, The Dalton School, Friends Seminary, Ocean of Know, The Ross School and Storm King School.

Dr. H. James Simpson, a world-renowned hydrologist from Columbia University's Lamont Dougherty Earth Observatory, is a board member of the Black Rock Forest and is actively involved in the work going on there.

An average of 7,000 visitors per year has been logged at the forest since 1998. Visitors include K-12 schools and undergraduate and graduate students from member colleges and universities who worked on research projects in the forest. There is forest data available going back 70 years, which is why the forest attracts professional scientists.

PASCO Probeware Available to Members

There is a great deal of interest in water quality sampling in the forest as correlated to micro and macro invertebrates found in the water. Data collection probeware from PASCO is now available for use by all members of the consortium. Visitors will use PASCO probes to sample water quality from various bodies of water in the Black Rock Forest. Students will correlate the altitude of the

body of water with pH in an acid rain study. They'll also visit the bodies of water before dawn and in the afternoon to correlate DO2 and Dissolved CO2 with sunlight as they investigate photosynthesis. Many other hands-on activities are planned.

Read more about the Black Rock Forest and their available programs.