A rising junior this summer at Susquehanna University, northern New Jersey native Peyton Curley is excited to assist the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association with a full slate of initiatives and programs this summer.

We chat with her in the newest episode of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Podcast about her background, what drew her to Susquehanna University and our watershed and why she is so passionate about our environmental resources.

The next Nature Book Club meeting is May 23 at 7 p.m. at Shikellamy State Park.  (Note that the May meeting is NOT on the usual last Monday of every-other month to avoid Memorial Day.)

The book up for discussion is The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed by John Vaillant. According to a synopsis for the book: "When a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an island, they reignite a mystery of a protest.  Five months earlier, Grant Hadwin jumped into a river towing a chainsaw.  When his work was done, a unique 165-foot Sitka spruce covered with luminous golden needles, teetered on its stump.  Two days later it fell." 

The Songs of the Susquehanna: Volume 2 CD is available now at the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association office at 112 Market Street, Sunbury. An online download of the album will be available in the near future.

You can pre-order your copy of Songs of the Susquehanna: Volume 2 for $15 (it can be picked up in person at the Riverkeeper's Sunbury office or mailed to your address). If you would like to purchase a Volume 1 (2021) and Volume 2 (2022) two-pack of CDs, the cost is $25.

​A tiny waterway – more a trickle than a stream – winds down through an under-road culvert at the intersection for a small Snyder County community.
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A few scattered populations of minnows and macroinvertebrates share the tiny channel un-interrupted until a hose is lowered into the stream from a roadside truck and water is drawn into an approximately 700-gallon tank to be used for a nearby hydroseeding project.

The truck returned for several additional water draws from the same stream later that day.

Riverkeeper's note: The following column was written and provided by Kathy Snavely, owner of Kathy's Cuisine and president of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association. If you have any questions about this column, you can email her directly at kathyscuisine@gmail.com

So, how many greenhouse gases (carbon compounds and methane) is your lifestyle contributing to the environment? 

This is not likely a question you ask yourself every day.  Science tells us that in the US, we each contribute 16 tons during the course of our lifetime. 
 
You might be asking yourself how in the world you do that -- and yes, that’s the kind of stuff that is contaminating our air so much that some scientists believe we are already past the point of no return.  Not only is the carbon in the air, it’s also in our water.  And water treatment consumes about 13 percent of our electricity, and it’s growing.

​​Armed with 19 years of experience in various roles with Merck Pharmaceuticals out of Riverside, Lou Ann Tom continues to conduct research into ways to reduce impacts of pharmaceuticals that wind up in our waterways via her role as Associate Professor of Chemistry at Susquehanna University.

Among the variety of medications created at Merck, “We made Ivermectin, which is fairly toxic and treating it was a high priority, so I got involved in studying low levels of pharmaceuticals that may wind up in the river,” she said. “Some of the components were very difficult to analyze because some things can be toxic at levels that could be very, very low – almost too low to measure.

“Ivermectin can be an issue at parts per trillion. Most of the common analytical techniques have an ability to test to parts per million or parts per billion. I started studying ways in which we could develop a method to see that compound at parts per trillion. From there, I started looking at other compounds that were common and potentially could be toxic in really low levels.”

In an effort to continue momentum started via its introductory HERYN (Helping Engage our River's Youth with Nature) program, the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association is holding a specialized "Blue HERYN" sojourn open only to graduates of the the original HERYN program.

The Blue HERYN program day is scheduled for Thursday, June 30, 2022, on the Penns Creek in Union/Snyder counties with two timeslots to accommodate as many participants as possible.