Expertise of Syracuse University Professor Charles Driscoll featured in PBS documentary on loons set to air Nov. 21

Expertise of Syracuse University Professor Charles Driscoll featured in PBS documentary on loons set to air Nov. 21November 14, 2006Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Charles Driscoll, University Professor of Environmental Systems Engineering in Syracuse University’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, appears in a new PBS documentary, “Call of the Loon,” which chronicles and raises awareness about the growing problem of mercury contamination in wildlife and ecosystems in the Adirondacks.

Driscoll, an internationally known expert on mercury pollution of watersheds and waterways and acid rain, offers commentary based upon his research in the documentary, which will air locally on WCNY on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 9 p.m.

Driscoll and biologist Judith McIntyre will appear on WCNY’s “Hour CNY” program on Friday, Nov. 17, to discuss loons and the documentary. The program airs from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on WCNY and again at 10 p.m. that evening on WCNY2.

“Call of the Loon” features researchers and volunteers from the Adirondack Cooperative Loon Program (ACLP) who have been monitoring the behavior and reproductive success of the birds. The long-term ALCP study on the detrimental effect of mercury on the loon, a fish eater, provides a broader understanding of the impact of mercury pollution on wildlife and ecosystems throughout northeastern America. The documentary is a production of Mountain Lake PBS.