SUNY Oneonta Bags Big Bucks for Study on Ice and Lakes

Brace yourselves for some really cool (or should I say cold) news from the academic world! Dr. Kiyoko Yokota is a biology whiz at SUNY Oneonta and her team have struck gold with a National Science Foundation Research Opportunity Award.

Thanks to a grant of $50,356 from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Dr. Yokota is all set to gear up for some serious data collection. And the cherry on top? The money will also fund some hands-on research experiences for lucky undergrads who are researching the mysteries of winter lake life.

Dr. Yokota and their team are heading to Otsego Lake and they are going there with samples and sensors. They want to try and figure out the secrets of shorter winters and their impact on the tiny but mighty freshwater plants called phytoplankton.

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And let's talk ice...or lack of it. The resilient crew over at SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station has been keeping track of what is going on at Otsego Lake's icy antics for 175 years.

Things have gotten interesting over the last couple of years. Recently, the winters have been playing mind games with us, because some years the lake has had no ice cover at all.

Otsego Lake is not along because lakes around the world have been experiencing warming temperatures. This has impacted the ice formation on the lake surfaces and could effect the growth of lake algae and the way it interacts with other organisms in the water.

Otsego Lake has been their frozen stage, and Dr. Yokota and the team are in for a wild ride until 2026. It's scientific research meets winter wonderland, and we can't wait to see what secrets these frozen waters will reveal.