Students majoring in Environmental Science have been doing watershed studies of local lakes since the mid 1980's. Teams of senior majors have investigated land use patterns and their impacts on lake water quality for all of the Belgrade Lakes, four lakes in the China Lake area, and two lakes near Skowhegan, Maine over this time.
The studies are done as part of the Problems in Environmental Science course. The student team functions as an environmental consulting firm as it investigates the target lake and its watershed. The results of these studies are shared with the Department of Environmental Protection, local lake associations, town officials, and archived in the Colby College Science Library. A public presentation at the end of each study occurs in early December. In recent years, the PowerPoint presentations used for the public presentations have been placed on the web for general viewing. Also, summaries and recommendations are also provided.
