REFLECTIONS ON LOWER ST. REGIS: Returning to my Community

by Chris L. Mikolajczyk, CLM ’90

When I was asked to write for this edition of The Sequel, I jumped at the chance. As a Paul Smith’s alumni (EET 1990) I’d like to share a small experience I had in early August 2022. I was fortunate enough to be invited to be the plenary speaker for the Adirondack Lakes Alliance (www.adirondacklakesalliance.org)

7th annual conference held annually at the stunningly beautiful facilities at Paul Smith’s. Now, I’m a bit biased since I am a graduate, but the new facilities are all excellent examples of classic Adirondack architecture with a modern touch.

I can’t begin to describe the incredible sense of pride I had, returning to my alma mater, a place where I started my journey as a 17-year old freshman in September 1988 learning about limnology, including how to spell it. Now, my return was as the president of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), representing so many talented, dedicated people who work for our continents’ lakes day in and day out. And to top it off, to see Dr. Curt Stager, an accomplished and old PSC professor, in attendance as I spoke was the icing on the cake. Dr. Stager and I had presented together at the New York State Federation of Lake Associations back in April 2022, however for this particular session at PSC, I was solo. In my mind, I had completed the circle both professionally and personally that day, and of course topped it off with an ice cream cone from Donnelly’s. If you know PSC and the Adirondacks, then you know what I mean.

On the drive to PSC that rainy morning, I reflected on what PSC means to me and “community” sums it up the best. PSC is a community to me, even all these years later. I thought of my three favorite professors: John Brown, Bud Ziolkowski and Sherry Godlewski. They were my favorites for several reasons: they pronounced my last name correctly on the first day of class (only time in my life that’s happened!), they were the core instructors for my major (Ecology and Environmental Technology), and lastly, they saw something in me that I did not. I was a mediocre student at best. I struggled in class but would eventually excel in the field and in the lab. They got me through the books and tests until my textbook learning skills caught up to my field learning skills. I loved that they would be present at some of the lean-to barbeque cookouts and ice-fishing trips, and would talk to me person to person instead of instructor to student. It was the attention I needed to be a better student at a time when I clearly struggled as one. I’m proud to say that I had a great visit this past April with John and Bud, both of whom still live here in the Adirondacks.

I also thought of the skills that PSC taught me, and the many avenues I could have taken. There are numerous fields one could enter with a PSC environmental based degree: biology, wildlife, fisheries, parks, water and planning are just a few of these areas, but I chose lake and watershed management, as well as the protection of our surface and groundwater. One of my employees, Jesse Smith, is a 2015 PSC graduate. I hired him mostly based on his PSC hands on training, knowing that he would have the right field background for the position and would understand the sense of community we were looking for at the firm. Jesse specializes in aquatic plant species, a major management issue in lakes and reservoirs,and he just led a field effort for a project we possess conducting an aquatic vegetation survey in a central Adirondack lake, looking specifically for invasive species. Jesse was thrilled when we landed the project and couldn’t believe he was going to be paid to do the same work in the same places he worked as an undergrad at PSC. Jesse renewed my faith in PSC since I hadn’t been able to visit for quite a few years and encouraged me to reach back out to our community.

After I spoke that August day, I went outside where the sun was shining brightly and the loons were calling, and reflected on alI that I had learned from PSC. I realized that I learned just as much from the entire campus community over the years, as I have from all the textbooks I had through the completion of graduate school, if not more. To quote the Bandamanna Saga, a section of the Sagas of Icelanders, “Wisdom is welcome wherever it comes from” and what I learned from the PSC community has been incredibly valuable, both professionally and personally.

To learn more about Paul Smith’s natural sciences programs, visit: paulsmiths.edu/natural-science-dept.