Students from Union Springs Middle School's Living Environment class had the unique opportunity to expand their scientific horizons during an unforgettable educational field trip aboard the William Scandling research vessel. This thrilling adventure was organized as part of the Science on Seneca program, aimed at enhancing students' understanding of marine biology and environmental science.

The major goals of the trip are to provide students with an interesting experience in the collection, analysis and sharing of scientific data and to amass baseline data on Seneca Lake's major features. The Science on Seneca field trip experience provided students an opportunity to conduct field-based data collection using state-of-the art equipment. After experience on-board, students toured the Geosciences Department to gain a greater appreciation for field research that scientists and college students conduct at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

This program is coordinated by the Geosciences Department in cooperation with the Finger Lakes Institute (FLI), located on the Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ campus. FLI’s mission is to provide educational resources about the Finger Lakes.

Living Environment teacher Roberta Palmiotto, who accompanied the students on this remarkable journey, expressed her enthusiasm for the program, saying, "it is so much fun getting our students out on the lake. Data that is collected is recorded on data collection sheets that are sent back to the staff at Hobart and William Smith Colleges to be entered into our database. We have collected over 20 years of data from the SOS field trips."