We saw the first step in our process as research.  We planned to look for well-documented studies of mercury biomagnification.  In particular, we needed data about amounts of mercury present in both the biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem.  We also needed information about retention rates and rates of incorporation of mercury at each trophic level. Finally, we planned to use toxicity data as a constraint on our populations.    

Next, we planned to create a simple conceptual model, identifying sources, flows and feedback loops within the system  to create a STELLA model to test with actual data.    

Although we hoped to produce an actual STELLA model which could be downloaded from the WEB, we envision the product of our efforts as the development of our own skills and those of our students in using modeling processes to make sense of complex systems.    

During the institute, we kept a weekly journal of our progress and developed a list of links which we consulted along the way. We also connected our work to the standards developed by the National Academy of Sciences.