Students gain hands-on learning experience while the community benefits from actions resulting in cleaner water
The Clinton County Streamkeepers tapped into a local resource — Wilmington College — in its quest to ensure clean waterways. Its $20,000 grant spanning three years is paying for science students to monitor several local creeks with the goal of establishing riparian buffer crops between farmland and waterways to help mitigate pollution.
This new hands-on learning project is known as WAVE, which stands for the Water Assessment and Vitality Enhancement program. Funding was assisted by an estate gift to the Streamkeepers from Dr. Fredrik Anliot, who served as a long-time member of the College’s biology faculty.
Two representatives of the Streamkeepers, Paul Moke and Karen Kayser, visited the College earlier this week for an update on the project’s progress. They met with senior Taylor Powell-Abbinante, the student research coordinator, and the two faculty advisers, Natural Sciences Area Coordinator Dr. Russell Kincaid, professor of mathematics and physics, and Dr. Amanda Rollins, assistant professor of biology.
The students have regularly taken samples of water for baseline measurements indicating the presence of various chemicals, which often come from farmland runoff. They also gather macroinvertebrates from the streams, which is another indicator of the health of the water. A recent testing day found more than 1,700 macroinvertebrates, each of which was identified in the laboratory. The three waterways include Lytle Creek, Todd’s Fork Creek and Indian Run.
Powell-Abbinante leads a student contingent of research fellows and research assistants. The research fellows are Dane Klosterman, Mattie Butler, and Alana Parsons while the research assistant team consists of Matthew Maramasaka, Olive Iragena, Ruth Beery, Gabby Perkins, Ava Hester and Jase Edmonson.
The College has permission from the farmland owners to conduct the research near their property. They include alumni Don Muchmore and Deb and Tim Trayer. Also, farms previously donated to the College are part of this adaptive research program.
PHOTO: Senior Taylor Powell-Abbinante (CENTER), the student research coordinator, gives Paul Moke and Karen Kayser, members of the Clinton County Streamkeepers, an update on research activities while the two faculty advisers, Natural Sciences Area Coordinator Dr. Russell Kincaid, professor of mathematics and physics, and Dr. Amanda Rollins, assistant professor of biology, look on.