Publications

These are some of the publications relating to research on watersheds in Dutchess County.  If you have any additional publications you would like to post, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Assessment Documents and Management Plans

• Casperkill Assessment Document
• Fall Kill Watershed Management Plan
• Natural Resources Management Plan for the Fishkill Creek
• Tenmile River Assessment: Shoreline Survey and Action Plan
• The Great Swamp
• Natural Resource Management Plan for the Wappinger Creek Watershed

Other Reports

• A Rapid Trash Assessment of the Fall Kill

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Peer-Reviewed Papers

For copies of these publications or for more information, please contact the Vassar College Environmental Research Institute at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Watershed: Hudson River Direct Drainage

“The Suburban Stream Syndrome: Evaluating Land Use and Stream Impairments in the Suburbs.”

Mary Ann Cunningham, Catherine M. O’Reilly, Kirsten M. Menking, David P. Gillikin, Kelsey C. Smith, Catherine M. Foley, Stuart L. Belli, A. Marshall Pregnall, Mark A. Schlessman, and Pinar Batur
Vassar College, Bard College
Physical Geography. Vol. 30, No. 3: pp. 269-284.

To read the abstract for this paper, click here.

Watershed: Casperkill (Hudson River Direct Drainage)

“Ontogenic increase of metabolic carbon in freshwater mussel shells (Pyganodon cataracta).”

David Paul Gillikin,¹ Kathryn A. Hutchinson,¹ and Yusuke Kumai^{2,3
1Department of Earth Science and Geography, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY; 2Department of Biology, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY; 3Now at Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Journal of Geophysical Research. Vol. 114.}

To read the abstract for this paper, click here.

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Undergraduate Theses

For copies of these publications or for more information, please contact the Vassar College Environmental Research Institute at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Watershed: Casperkill (Hudson River Direct Drainage)

Biology:

• The Effects of Lead Contamination on the Germination and Growth of Impatiens capensis Populations Along the Casper Kill
  Boxhill, Jessica L. Biology Senior Project.

• Nitrification in the Water Column and Sediments of the Casperkill: Seasonal Fluctuations and Relations to Nutrient Gradients
  Burge, Allison J. 1998. Biology Senior Project. Advisor: A. Marshall Pregnall (BIOL)
• Acute Toxicity of Lead in the Freshwater Amphipods Gammarus pseudolimnaeus and Hyalella azteca
  Case, Emily. 1995. Biology Senior Project. Advisors: Meg Ronsheim (BIOL) and A. Marshall Pregnall (BIOL)
  
• Casperkill, the Underground Story: An Initial Investigation into the Nutrients, Contaminants, and Salt Concentration of the Ground Water of the Casperkill Watershed
  Robins, Lucy. 19 December 2007. Biology Senior Project. Advisors: A. Marshall Pregnall (BIOL) and Stuart Belli (CHEM)
  

Chemistry:

• Aqueous Metal Concentrations in the Casper Kill
  Mitall, Karen E. May 1995. Chemistry Senior Thesis. Advisors: Marianne Begemann (CHEM) and Jeff Walker (GEOL)
• Fate and transport of heavy metals in the Casperkill Creek
  Schultheiss, Alyssa. 2007. Chemistry Senior Thesis. Advisor: Stuart Belli (CHEM)
• The Speciation of Metals in Bottom Sediments of the Casper Kill
  Van Bergen, Saskia. 14 May 1996. Chemistry Senior Thesis. Advisors: Marianne Begemann (CHEM) and Jeff Walker (GEOL)

Earth Science/Geology:

• Metal Contamination and Distribution in Casper Creek Poughkeepsie, NY: Chromium Concentrations Near the FICA Landfill
  Belk, Elizabeth L. 1995. Geology Senior Thesis, #142. Advisor: Jeff Walker (GEOL)
• SWATing the Casperkill: A Physically Based Model of a Small Watershed in Poughkeepsie, NY
  Minder, Justin. May 2004, “Geology Senior Thesis, #169. Advisor: Kirsten Menking (GEOL)

• Metal Contamination of Surface Sediments in the Casper Creek Drainage System
  Peale, James G.D. March 1991. Geology Senior Thesis, #132. Advisor: Jeff Walker (GEOL)
• Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes in the Casperkill Creek
  Salls, Wilson. May 2009. Earth Science Senior Thesis. Advisor: David Gillikin (ESCI)
• Evaluating the Freshwater Mussel Elliptio complanata as a Proxy for Road Salt Pollution in Northeastern US Streams
  Winnick, Matthew. May 2009. Earth Science Senior Thesis. Advisor: David Gillikin (ESCI)

Environmental Studies:

• A Creek as a Worldview: Biological, Chemical, and Policy Assessment of Casperkill Creek
  Freimuth, Chris. 5 May 2006. Environmental Studies Senior Thesis. Advisors: Stuart Belli (CHEM) and Pinar Batur (SOCI/URBS)
• Rain Gardens at Vassar College: A Water Quality Assessment
  Vail, Emily. 1 May 2009. Environmental Studies Senior Thesis. Advisors: Lynn Christenson (ENST) and Mary Ann Cunningham (GEOG)

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