Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • July 18, 2012 Glen Rock The Science Group of the Glen Rockbased Activities Club recently helped a doctor assess the health of a living being. The practitioner was Dr. Francisco Artigas. His patient was the Meadowlands. The doctor’s organization, the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute, serves as the scientific arm of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission. MERI pursues the collection, analysis, and communication of information about the Meadowlands. The organization is attempting to determine whether the Meadowlands is improving as a result of changes, whether planned, natural, or accidental. The first step in the examination is the patient history. The history involves the extraction of “cores,” cylinders of muck, from a hole dozens of feet deep to determine the nature and frequency of climate changes that left their muddy mark on surfaces before they were submerged. The Sci- Club members take pulse of the Meadowlands ence Group participated in this process last September, and the cores extracted at that time are still preserved in the MERI lab after analysis at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York. The second step is the visual examination. This is done from a balloon at altitudes up to 500 feet. During the group’s visit, the balloon was launched from MERI’s skiff as it plied the Hackensack River near River Barge Park. Secured to the balloon was a modified camera that takes rapid-action stills based on pre-programmed commands. Much of the equipment was made by MERI using parts available at any hardware store. Dr. Artigas patiently and enthusiastically explained what he was doing and why, what equipment he was using, and how the pictures would be used. Laboratory-based testing completes and sustains the examination. After the boat trip, Dr. Artigas guided Members of the Science Group during their visit to the Meadowlands. the Science Group through his DeKorte Park laboratory, which houses the equipment he and his colleagues use to continuously monitor the environmental health of the Meadowlands. This includes analysis of the air at numerous spots in the Meadowlands to determine the presence of normal and polluting substances, enabling MERI’s scientists to spot changes and trace them to natural or other causes in real time. To learn more about the Science Group or the Activities Club, visit www.theactivitiesclub.org or call Charlie at (201) 6522585.