Through a new collaboration between RCU and the Clinton River Watershed Council, students participated in the Adopt-a-Stream program, gaining firsthand experience in water quality monitoring and ecosystem research.
What started as an idea last summer between Dr. Ifrodet Giorgees, assistant professor of chemistry, and Kenn Urban, adjunct professor in the School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences, has grown into a successful partnership that connects student learning with real community impact.
Bringing science to life
Over a course of three weeks, students received professional training to identify aquatic bugs used as bioindicators of water quality, collected live samples from the Clinton River, and brought them back to campus to isolate and identify under the microscope
“This collaboration truly brought science to life for our students,” Giorgees said. “They weren’t just doing a lab; they were contributing to real environmental data used at the state level. Seeing their excitement as they connected their skills to real-world work was incredibly rewarding.” This hands-on approach helps bridge the gap between theory and practice. Urban said, “Through both the real-time experience in lab and the concepts learned in lectures, the students are seeing more applications for skilled jobs in their future in the areas of environmental chemistry and biology.”
Win-win
The partnership has been a win-win for both parties. CRWC received extra support in processing samples, and RCU students gained valuable training and hands-on experience that links their ecology coursework to relevant environmental initiatives, Giorgees said. RCU and CRWC plan to continue the collaboration and explore even more ways to bring fieldwork and lab research together to help students see how science, stewardship and community service can go hand in hand, she said.
“We are especially grateful to the CRWC team, whose enthusiasm and teamwork helped turn months of planning — since last spring — into such a meaningful success,” Giorgees said.
For more information about RCU’s science programs, click here.
