Help wanted in Suffolk County: a limnologist ( a scientist who studies fresh waterbodies) dedicated to restoring Lake Ronkonkoma to the pristine swimming, fishing and kayaking destination it once was.

Lake Ronkonkoma was a Long Island destination for the well-off in New York City in the 1920s. Those days are long gone. By the 1970s, the lure of beach huts had worn off, and the area’s dense ...