MASSENA, New York (WWNY) – The Moses-Saunders dam in Massena turned into a classroom Friday for Clarkson University students.
They were at the dam as part of a 10 week ‘research experience,’ in which students focus on energy and the environment.
Friday, they studied how different ways of producing power affect the environment.
Undergraduate Sivannah Aalfs said her tour of the dam will help her understand how everything from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind and water affect the environment.
“We know renewables are going to be important for cutting out fossil fuels, but it’s not going to be a silver bullet,” Aalfs said.
“It’s not that we’re fixing everything, it’s more that we’re changing one set of problems for another set; and so this set we can mitigate – and that’s better than fossil fuels in the air, creating climate crisis, but it’s still things we need to mitigate.”
With a grant from the National Science Foundation, Clarkson University hopes to recruit more students in future years to better study both the electrical and environmental impacts of the Saunders Dam in Massena.
Professor Tom Ortmeyer says part of the goal with the program is to get undergraduates to continue their studies as a graduate student.
“A lot of our students, undergraduate students do go directly in the industry, but we definitely need certain percentage of them to really get involved in graduate studies, research and careers in the research area as well as the industrial area,” he said.
The $400,000 grant allows Clarkson to bring 10 students each summer through 2025 for the 10-week research experience.
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