RE LOG Fall 2017

FALL 2017 Ransom Everglades LOG 71 Pam Pennell Kelly, Dustin Nason, Lissette Suarez Stancioff and Lee Irvin ’87 gathered this summer in the Abacos, Bahamas, with their families. Bottom row L-R: Daniel Stancioff ’23 , Eve Kelly, Sena Irvin, Ed Kelly, Pam Pennell Kelly ’86, Lee Irvin ’87 . Top row L-R: Alex Stancioff , Julian Stancioff ’22, Lissette Stancioff ’86, Julia Irvin, Dustin Nason ’86 , Julia Nason, Olivia Nason. Not pictured: Addis Kelly Kelly McCammon reports: “Our son Oliver is attending Johns Hopkins this fall and our daughter Cecilia will be attending the University of Miami School of Architecture. So, my wife Wendy and I are empty nesters. We just moved to West Palm Beach where I am opening financial offices and Wendy is starting a health and wellness coaching business for women. We are excited to be back in the South Florida area and to become more involved.” Roland Samimy writes, “In the spirit of trying to get applied science into the classroom, I had the pleasure of working with the AP Environmental Science classes over the 2016-17 school year to initiate a first ever baseline water quality monitoring program in the Coral Gables Waterway (one of the main freshwater discharges to Biscayne Bay). Observed habitat degradation in the near shore waters of Biscayne Bay over the past 20 years, combined with the teachers and students existing sampling efforts prompted this unique collaboration. This effort, which began in October 2016 and has carried forward into this summer 2017, is actually an informal (voluntary) partnership between RE science students/ teachers, myself working under the umbrella of the Coastal Systems Program at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, NOAA-AOML on Key Biscayne and the University of Florida SeaGrant Program. Over the past 10 months, three teams of samplers representing RE, UMASS and NOAA have been collecting water samples at 11 stations the length of the waterway system to better understand the ambient nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorous) related water quality during both the wet and dry seasons. As this has never been done before, the main objective is to quantify nutrient concentrations, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll levels to ascertain the degree to which the nutrient rich discharge from the Coral Gables Waterway may be affecting water and habitat quality along the western boundary of Biscayne Bay. Ultimately, we are trying to get a full-blown assessment of the system funded and have the RE students participate to get real world science into the classroom and the classroom into the field. Thank you Cecilia Calleros ’94 and Scott Erdmann for making the effort to get your classes out there and contributing to generating new knowledge. It is my hope that we can continue this partnership into the 2017-18 school year as well. Data to date is already producing some very interesting findings which we will continue to share in the classroom and in the halls of NOAA.” 1987 Chris Beach writes, “For the past four years, I’ve reunited every year with my former varsity swimming teammates from Columbia to compete at US Masters Swimming Nationals, an event that draws 2,000-plus swimmers from around the country. This year we competed in the 200 medley relay and vanquished all comers (25 other teams) in our 45+ age group to bring home the gold. Twenty-eight years ago, the four of us were members of the Columbia squad that won the Ivy League championship.” Tommy Balzebre, Billy Hirschman, and Donald Lutton performed again as High Tide for the Class of 1987 30-Year Reunion at the home of Sara and Todd Poses this past April. A huge thank you to the 1987 Committee Chairs Adriana Atwill de la Fuente, Vanessa Greene Steinberg, Donald Lutton and Todd Poses along with the entire 1987 reunion committee for all their planning. Lee Irvin, see Pam Pennell Kelly ’86