TyW - Okay , you still have some good opportunities to learn more limnology techniques.
If before you graduate, you get a chance to chose a term paper topic in one of your courses, why not make it about lake productivity and how it relates to bgill or panfish standing crops? If you don't find the formula you are seeking in the literature, try and create one from the relevant papers that you read for the topic. I would very much like to read a copy of anything you create about this topic. I would even proof read and review it for you before you hand it in for a grade, if you do not wait till the last minute to finish it.
YSI and alkalinity. As far as I know they do not make a meter that measures alkalinity. Alkalinity is typically determined with titration to an end point as indicated by a color indicator. Conductivity is often metered but conductivity is not the same as alkalinity. However, the two are somewhat related to each other. The simplest way for you to determine the approximate alkalinity of your pond is to buy a simple test kit from a well stocked pet / aquarium store OR take your pondwater sample to school and test it when you take limnology techniques and they cover alkalinity testing in lab.
