BY JENNIFER AMATO
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Students at John Adams Elementary School were “energized” last week even though they had to stay after school.
Members of the fourth-grade gifted and talented program listened to a presentation Jan. 6 by Ray Kuehner, an energy specialist for the North Brunswick school district.
Within the district, Kuehner said heating, cooling, electric and gas costs total about $3 million a year.
“It’s a lot of money. A lot of money,” he said.
However, he said the district is taking measures to save energy and money. By doing “simple things,” he said, about $500,000 has already been saved.
“We are able to put it back into our education budget to buy books and other things you guys need to learn,” he said.
One important change within the district has been shutting off lights when a room is empty. Another is opening shades to let in light and warmth when the weather is cold, and shutting them to block out the cold or extreme summer heat.
In addition, the lights have been disconnected on the 20 vending machines at Linwood Middle School and North Brunswick Township High School, saving about $100 per machine per year, or about $2,000 total.
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Onset’s TidbiT® temperature data loggers are helping researchers understand the effects of water temperature conditions on the fish population in Colorado’s Bear Creek.
Karen Christopherson, a volunteer researcher for Evergreen Trout Unlimited, has been using TidbiT loggers for the past several years to monitor rising water temperature conditions. “We are monitoring the stream temperatures in order to show that temperatures vary significantly,” explains Christopherson. “At times, temperatures exceeded the EPA mandated temperature limits for cold-water fisheries. We had noticed a fish die-off in 2000 and 2002, during high water temperatures.”
In order to prove their case that water temperatures were rising, and prompt action by the EPA, state, and the local agencies, Christopherson and her team placed the loggers in various stream locations to monitor temperature conditions at an hourly rate.
“So far, we have succeeded in getting cooperation of state and local agencies to help the stream. This benefits not just the trout, but all other wildlife, as well as the community. It all started with our Trout Unlimited group gathering temperature data with the TidbiTs in order to prove our point – that stream temps were too high,” concludes Christopherson.
Onset’s HOBO® water temperature data loggers are helping U.S. National Park Service researchers understand the effects of water temperature on coral reef health at the service’s field station in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. More specifically, researchers are using the data loggers to establish a link between elevated water temperature over time and coral bleaching, or the whitening of coral due to the loss of life- supporting algae. Coral bleaching – a phenomenon that has been linked to global warming in recent years – causes coral to become colorless, weak, and vulnerable to a variety of environmental stresses. [Read More]
Related links:
: Coral reefs in trouble, scientists warn http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/07/08/decliningreefs.ap/index.html
Onset’s TidbiT® temperature data loggers are helping researchers understand the impact of water temperature on the survival and growth of oysters along New England’s coast.
Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) are studying five strains of New England oysters bred for disease resistance or chosen from disease resistant stock. These strains are grown alongside one another at four sites throughout New England.
John Murt, a researcher at the Marine Biology Laboratory at WHOI, has been using TidbiTs to monitor temperature conditions at all of the growout locations. “Prior to using the loggers, our team would take monthly field sampling trips to each site to record environmental data as well as growth and mortality of each oyster strain,” explains Murt. “Without the data loggers, we would only have a single monthly water temperature recording instead of the daily samples we collect with the loggers.”
The loggers allow Murt and his team to record water temperatures year round without having to rely on someone being in the field collecting data manually. “With temperature being the driving factor of water-borne bacteria, the data set provided by the loggers is essential for us to better understand when the conditions are right for these bacteria to impact either oyster populations or oyster farms,” says Murt.
According to Murt, similar research for Quahogs will start this summer. Three strains are currently being grown in hatcheries and will be seeded into growout patches in local harbors.
“The manpower saved by deploying data loggers means that we get a much better data set for a lot less effort. This is a win-win situation for everyone,” concludes Murt.
