Jay Curtis Stager (born July 29, 1956) is an author, radio co-host, musician, and professor of natural sciences at Paul Smith's College [1] in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, where he holds the Draper-Lussi Endowed Chair in Lake Ecology and Paleoecology. He is also a research associate with the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, Orono. [2]
He received a B.A. in biology and geology from Bowdoin College in 1979 and a Ph.D. in zoology and geology from Duke University in 1984.
His research [3] in Africa and the Adirondacks has focused on the use of lake sediment cores [4] to reconstruct past climates, evolution, and human impacts on ecosystems over centuries to thousands of years. In addition to investigating environmental histories of lakes in Africa, South America, and the United States, he has studied acid rain recovery in Adirondack lakes, human impacts on Thoreau's Walden Pond, fish evolution in Uganda, megadroughts in the Afro-Asian monsoon region, coral reef ecology in the Bahamas, and exploding lakes in Cameroon.
In 2013 he was named the Carnegie-CASE Science Professor of the Year for New York state. A reviewer for the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, he has published several dozen papers in Science, PNAS, and other journals, and has written for National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times, and other periodicals for general audiences.
His science-outreach efforts have also included a graphic novel about his student-centered research on Walden Pond, numerous public presentations on climate change and lake ecology, and a convention of Catholic Climate Ambassadors at Paul Smith's College in March, 2016.
Since 1990 he has co-hosted Natural Selections a weekly science program on North Country Public Radio. [5]
A YouTube video of Curt playing guitar for a pet crow that appeared online in 2015 gained over 100k views on the site. [6] He performs frequently on banjo and guitar, was director of Meadowlark Music Camp in Washington, ME, between 1997 and 2010, and co-organized the annual Science Art Music Festival at Paul Smith’s College since 2014. [7]
The Adirondack Mountains are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York which form a circular dome approximately 160 miles (260 km) wide and covering about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the highest point in New York at 5,344 feet (1,629 m). The Adirondack High Peaks, a traditional list of 46 peaks over 4,000 feet (1,200 m), are popular hiking destinations. There are over 200 named lakes with the number of smaller lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water reaching over 3,000. Among the named lakes around the mountains are Lake George, Lake Placid, and Lake Tear of the Clouds. The region has over 1,200 miles (1,900 km) of river.
Brighton is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 1,435 at the 2010 census. It was named after Brighton, England, by early surveyors in the region.
Long Lake is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 791 at the 2020 census.
Saranac Lake is a village in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,887, making it the largest community by population in the Adirondack Park. The village is named after Upper, Middle and Lower Saranac lakes, which are nearby.
The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) is a public research university in Syracuse, New York, focused on the environment and natural resources. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. ESF is immediately adjacent to Syracuse University, within which it was founded, and with which it maintains a special relationship. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At 6.1 million acres, it is the largest park in the contiguous United States.
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all biotic and abiotic things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished as components:
Tupper Lake is a town in the southwest corner of Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 5,147 at the 2020 census. The town contains a village also called Tupper Lake. Until July 2004, the town was known as "Altamont", not to be confused with the village of Altamont in Albany County.
Tupper Lake is a village in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 3,282 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the boundaries of the Adirondack Park, west of Lake Placid. Along with nearby Saranac Lake, these three villages make up what is known as the Tri-Lakes region.
The New York and Ottawa Railway was a railway connecting Tupper Lake in northeastern New York to Ottawa, Ontario, via Ramsayville, Russell, Embrun, Finch and Cornwall. It became part of the New York Central Railroad system in 1913, although it was under the larger company's possession since the end of 1904. It had started out as the Northern Adirondack Railroad and evolved into the Northern New York Railroad, the New York and Ottawa Railroad, and was last known as the New York and Ottawa Railway before being merged into the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Other lines that were a part of this route are described below.
The Saint Regis Canoe Area in Adirondack Park is the largest wilderness canoe area in the Northeastern United States and the only designated canoe area in New York state. It is closed to motorized vehicles. Among the 50 ponds and lakes are Upper Saint Regis Lake, part of the Seven Carries route, and Saint Regis Pond. It contains the headwaters of the West and Middle Branch of the Saint Regis and the Saranac Rivers. Only two of the lakes can be reached without a portage, or carry as it is known in the region. Primitive canoe camping is permitted on many of the lakes and ponds. Saint Regis Mountain and Long Pond Mountain are within the area.
Paul Smiths is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Brighton in Franklin County, New York, United States. It is located on Lower Saint Regis Lake in the Adirondacks, 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Saranac Lake, located at 44°26' North 74°15' West. The population of the CDP was 671 at the 2010 census.
The Wild Center, formerly known as the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, is a natural history center in Tupper Lake, New York, near the center of New York state's Adirondack Park.
Michael Kudish is an author, railroad historian, forest historian, botanist, and retired emeritus professor. He received his Ph.D. in botany in 1971 from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse. His dissertation, on the history of Catskill forests, was the beginning of a lifelong study. It was later expanded and published in book form as The Catskill Forest: A History. His previous degrees included a B.S. from the City College of New York, and an M.S. from Cornell University (1968).
Lake Clear is a hamlet and a lake in Franklin County, New York, United States. The area is named for 940-acre (3.8 km2) Lake Clear, part of the original Seven Carries canoe route. It is located in the town of Harrietstown.
Anne LaBastille was an American author, ecologist, and photographer. She was the author of more than a dozen books, including Woodswoman, Beyond Black Bear Lake, and Women of the Wilderness. She also wrote over 150 articles and over 25 scientific papers. She was honored by the World Wildlife Fund and the Explorers Club for her pioneering work in wildlife ecology in the United States and Guatemala. LaBastille also took many wildlife photographs, many of which were published in nature publications.
Lower St. Regis Lake is a part of the St. Regis River in the Adirondacks in northern New York State. At its northern edge is Paul Smith's College, former site of Paul Smith's Hotel. Along with Upper St. Regis Lake and Spitfire Lake, it became famous in the late 19th century as a summer playground of America's power elite, drawn to the area by its scenery and by the rustic charms of Paul Smith's Hotel. It is the site of St. John's in the Wilderness, a small chapel originally built of logs, that was formerly attended by the families of shoreline property owners that arrived in canoes, rowboats and sailboats.
The Seven Carries is an historic canoe route from Paul Smith's Hotel to the Saranac Inn through what is now known as the Saint Regis Canoe Area in southern Franklin County, New York in the Adirondack Park. The route was famous with sportsmen and tourists from major east-coast cities from the late 19th century through the 1930s; interest has revived in recent years. Despite the name, the route consists of only six carries, or portages.
The Mohawk and Malone Railway was a railroad that ran from the New York Central Railroad's main line at Herkimer north to Malone, crossing the northern Adirondacks at Tupper Lake Junction, just north of Tupper Lake. The road's founder, Dr. William Seward Webb, was president of the Wagner Palace Car Company and a Vanderbilt in-law. He began by purchasing the 3 ft narrow gauge Herkimer, Newport and Poland Railway, which ran 16 miles (26 km) from Herkimer to Poland, converting its trackage to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge, and straightening it to avoid multiple crossings of the West Canada Creek. He then had track built from Tupper Lake to Moira and thence to Malone. A separate company, the St. Lawrence and Adirondack Railway, completed the line to Montreal, Quebec.
The Adirondack Canoe Classic, also known as the 90-miler, is a three-day, 90-mile (140 km) canoe race from Old Forge to Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks of New York, United States. The race has drawn as many as 500 competitors from California to Florida, New Zealand and Canada paddling 250 canoes, kayaks and guideboats. Included in the ninety mile length is 5.25 miles (8.45 km) of carries.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
