Five Richmond Hill students who are members of the Field Studies Program received training from a representative from NOAA on July 5 to become members of the Southeastern Phytoplankton Monitoring Network. Jennifer Maucher, coordinator for the SPMN, conducted an all-day training at RHMS and the Tivoli River fishing pier. Students were taught how to identify phytoplankton capable of producing harmful phytoplankton blooms.

The students will conduct bi-monthly surveys at the Tivoli site. The Field Studies Program has two microscope imaging stations that enable the students to view samples on a computer monitor and capture images or videos of microscopic organisms.