LI students map critters' moves by using GPS technology

About 75 middle and high school students from Freeport, Hempstead, Roosevelt and Uniondale school districts tracked the movements of mock animals on the 5,300-acre campus of Brookhaven National Laboratory under the state-funded Science and Technology Entry Program of Hofstra University.

Jeremy Feinberg, a biologist working at the lab, guided the students in locating the animals using radio-telemetry. After locating the animals, the students used global position system devices to get their precise coordinates and developed a computer map showing their travel patterns.

The laboratory's campus is home to several rare animals, including the spotted turtle, the Eastern hognose snake and the Eastern tiger salamander.

Also contributing to the program were Suffolk County, the Long Island Geographic Information Systems Users Group and the Rauch Foundation.

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