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NSF supports professor´s plan to develop Web-based guide to microscopic biodiversity

March 27, 2003

For immediate release - March 26, 2003
Contact: Nina Lentini (860) 439-2505

NEW LONDON - A Connecticut College professor has been awarded a $75,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in support of his project that will develop an innovative, fun-to-use and informative computerized guide to microscopic biodiversity.

Peter A. Siver, Charles and Sarah P. Becker '27 Professor of Botany, plans to develop an illustrative key on the Web that can be used to identify algae. His NSF Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement program grant was one of only 120 made from 580 submissions.

In his NSF proposal, Siver wrote that his goal in developing the algae key is to spark interest among freshman- and sophomore-level students in the microscopic world.

A noted expert in limnology, the study of lakes, Siver is the director of the environmental studies program at Connecticut College. His research helps to disprove the hypothesis that acid rain always causes lakes to become more acidic. Focusing mainly on Connecticut lakes, Siver demonstrates that southern New England lakes have not all become more acidic as a result of acid deposition. He shows that surrounding watersheds and processes within the waterbodies help regulate the effect of acid rain on lakes and ponds, in some cases reducing acidity over time. Through major grants, the NSF continues to support Siver's research which has more recently focused on the biodiversity and biogeography of freshwater algae in North America. Together with undergraduate students Siver has discovered more than 20 new species of these organisms, which when present yield information about the historical lake chemistry.

Siver's specific research interests include studying the ability of extant and fossil algal floras, especially chrysophytes and diatoms, to reveal the effects of environmental stresses on aquatic ecosystems; the use of algal assemblages in reconstructing paleoenvironments; biotic surveys of floras in North America as well as in Argentina and Russia; integration of Geographic Information Systems in lake management issues; and the chemistry of Connecticut lakes.

Siver, a resident of Colchester, has written two books about his research, The Biology of Mallomonas: Taxonomy and Ecology, and Connecticut Lakes: A Study of the Chemical and Physical Properties of Fifty-six Connecticut Lakes. Siver's findings have also been published in journals such as, Limnology & Oceanography, Nova Hedwigia, Florida Scientist, Journal of Paleolimnology, Canadian Journal of Botany, Journal of Environmental Quality, and the Nordic Journal of Botany.

Ranked among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College has an enrollment of 1,850 men and women from 44 states, the District of Columbia, and 55 countries. The college is particularly known for interdisciplinary studies, innovative international programs, paid internships, and a wide range of student-faculty research opportunities. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 80-year-old honor code and has no Greek system. The scenic 750-acre campus is managed as an arboretum and overlooks Long Island Sound. For more information, see http://www.conncoll.edu. Connecticut College is located at 270 Mohegan Ave., New London.

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For media inquiries contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu