Eagle Hill School - Winter Compendium 2020

Turtle-y Awesome

Endangered Northern Red-Bellied Cooters Thrive at Eagle Hill School!

by Matt LaCoille, Associate Director of Development & Stewardship

Working Together to Save Turtles

When the PJM STEM Center opened in September

2019, the impact on our students and faculty was much greater than simply having a new building to use. The PJM STEM Center has created an open and collaborative environment that reaches across all classroom subject matters and fosters innovation from our students and faculty.

No example of this creativity is more evident than the amazing project that is ongoing in the Duncan Life Sciences Lab on the third floor of the PJM STEM Center.

Spearheaded by Mr. Andrew Ward, longtime science faculty member at Eagle Hill, the “turtle tank” project has spanned two decades, multiple faculty members, and dozens of students, all with the same goal-increase the survivorship of the northern

red-bellied cooter before it becomes extinct.

Having actively participated for the past fifteen years in the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program run by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Ward and his students have created an innovative and efficient turtle tank to provide a safe and growth-focused environment for the turtles.

“These turtles are unique in a few ways, one being that they are only from one county in Massachusetts (Plymouth County), and that they are the second largest species of turtles in terms of physical size in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, these turtles have been affected by external forces that prevented many of them from surviving past their infancy,” said Ward.

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A rise in predators of the northern red-bellied cooter, along with developments of commercial properties and roads, have diminished the number of creatures in the region and put them on the endangered list. Because the turtles do not reach maturity before they are affected by these external factors, they have no “recruitment” for their species, which is often considered a common sign for eventual extinction.

The Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, however, has allowed for the northern red-bellied cooter to survive, nurturing over four thousand turtles since the mid-1990s. The program now consists of about twenty-five agencies, mostly universities, which help grow this population. Eagle Hill has been a member since 2005 and is proud to be one of the most active and successful agencies in the state of Massachusetts.

“It really started over ten years ago with some students who were very interested in wildlife and animal conservation. When we first started out it was very difficult. Due to predation, these animals have a poor chance of survival in this region. Since those first years, we’ve been fortunate to have many students step up in their free time to lead this program and make it their own,” said Ward.

TANK FEATURES DEVELOPED BY STUDENTS INCLUDE:

• A pool filter with sand to grab the waste coming out of the tank.

• An overflow tank system that allows for the water to flow through the system smoothly.

• A recognition that the type of bacteria in the filter needs oxygen to prevent tank odors or diseases, prompting the students to add oxygen to the overflow system through a pool pump.

• A spray bar that can be monitored to ensure smooth flow of water.

One of the biggest challenges is the cleanliness of each tank, caused by the diet of the turtles.

“The northern red-bellied cooters are herbivores, so we feed them mostly romaine lettuce for their diet. Because of this strict diet, there is a lot of waste in our tanks, causing a real problem with having to constantly monitor and clean the environment these turtles are in. We used to have 3-5 kids spending 1-2 hours every day cleaning, which is very taxing. These creatures grow so rapidly and eat so much that some agencies have a hard time keeping up if they don’t have the physical or human resources necessary.”

Understanding this consistent, yearly challenge, Ward believed that with the development of the new PJM STEM Center, a new solution could be found.

Wanting to build upon the success of previous students and the technology they helped develop for the turtle tank, Ward enlisted the help of an outside tank-making company, as well as two Eagle Hill faculty members, to help build a state-of-the-art system.

“Many of my former and current students in this program have helped develop successful features for the tank that have really allowed us to grow and evolve the purpose of the program,” said Ward.

• A tank without a forced heater so turtles wouldn’t overheat but instead use the heat from the pool pump and a thermostat to regulate the perfect temperature for their environment.

These features, along with many more distinct characteristics, were collaborated upon by students and faculty, in an effort to make the most efficient tank possible.

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After the tank was designed by Ward and the students, Ward asked Makerspace Coordinator Jim Haupt for assistance with building the stand for the nearly ninety-gallon tank. Given the new capabilities of the PJM STEM Center, Haupt and two students worked within the Morein Center for Advanced Design to take up the challenge.

“We knew it had to be extremely strong to hold such a heavy tank, so we really went through how to measure it, how much material was needed, and really how to take a full design and construction project from beginning to end. This included having each student price out the most cost-effective, yet quality products for the stand, as well as the actual building of the stand itself,” said Haupt.

Spending several hours of their own free time on the weekend, Haupt along with Charlotte Marvin ’22 and Harrison Stern ’20, worked to weld and piece together the tank stand.

In addition to the stand for the tank itself, Haupt and his students had ideas to solve some of the more practical problems that the tank project presented. For example, needing a way to drain much of the waste without having to manually pour it, the group created a 3D-printed drain cover that allowed for the direct connection of a hose to the drain itself. Draining the tank now requires much less physical labor because of the 3D-printed student creation.

From there, Ward worked with fellow longtime Eagle Hill faculty

Charlotte Marvin ’22 and Harrison Stern ‘20 weld the turtle tank stand.

member Deb Shanks to have her class create a backdrop for the nearby tropical fish tank in the Life Sciences Room to properly cover the tank wall to create a more natural environment.

“Ironically, Mr. Ward asked me to participate in this project because I knew how to sew. Though I didn’t teach a sewing class at Eagle Hill, I had some students who were interested in sewing and helping out. After we purchased some sewing machines and supplies for the Lodge Craft Room, Meredith O’Mara ’23 and Devyn Hyer ’23 took it upon themselves to work in their free time to create something special for the Life Sciences Room, and that was neat to see,” said Shanks.

This portion of the project, though seemingly a small aspect, took a lot of collaboration as to the correct measurements and materials needed, similar to the creation of the tank itself.

Meredith O’Mara ’23 sews finishing touches to a backdrop for the 90-gallon fish tank in the Life Sciences Room.

With the turtle tank project now just needing adjustments from time to time, Ward and his students are getting recognition from those within the wildlife and marine communities.

The National Marine Life Center, with a location in Cape Cod, was thoroughly impressed at the innovation and ingenuity of the students involved in the program.

“Fortunately for those involved with this program, Eagle Hill has the special privilege every year of collecting all of the data for these turtles statewide at the MassWildlife headquarters in Westborough. This is

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something we’ve been chosen to do each year because of our amazing work helping the northern red-bellied cooter. While there, we discuss with all of the other institutions in the program some of the struggles and obstacles they have,” said Ward.

“One of the biggest things was that these institutions had a hard time keeping their turtle tanks clean. One of the representatives from the National Marine Life Center said that they have no problem keeping their 200,000-gallon tanks clean, but they have

Mr. Ward (above) opens the custom 3D-printed drain cover and Mr. Haupt (right) explains how the cover was made.

issues with their small, 50-gallon tanks. I was proud when one of my students raised their hand and said, ‘We can help.’”

The National Marine Life Center sent out their veterinary team to Eagle Hill recently to observe the students’ newly designed turtle tank, to see how it filtered and kept clean, and to listen to students’ explanations as to why they did things the way they did.

NORTHERN RED-BELLIED COOTER

The northern red-bellied cooter is considered a distinct subspecies of turtles called Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi and is endemic to Massachusetts ponds in the coastal counties of Essex, Middlesex, Plymouth, Barnstable, and Dukes. Today, this red-bellied turtle is only found in Plymouth and was the first turtle in the United States to be listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife in 1980.

Each year, discovered red-bellied cooter nests are caged to protect the eggs and hatchlings from predators. Approximately 95 percent of uncaged nests suffer predation and do not survive. When the eggs are hatched, 50 percent of the hatchlings are released into the same pond and 50 percent are moved to facilities to raise to a size that is less vulnerable to predation.

at Eagle Hill School, and the new PJM STEM Center has been a very successful facilitator of collaboration. Stay tuned for more amazing STEM projects in future publications!

“The fact that a reputable, professional organization like the National Marine Life Center would have interest in learning from our students is a huge testament to their hard work and creativity,” said Ward.

“I am fortunate to have a student like Harrison Stern who really has taken the lead on this project. He has to do the ‘hiring’ of his team and hold them accountable, which is really tough as a high schooler. This project has taught him and the rest of the team members the value of working on a team and doing the tasks that are assigned to you in a timely fashion.”

Teamwork between students and faculty is making a difference

Harrison Stern ’20 checks the cooter’s health and measures for growth.

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