Wright State University student, Desi Niewinski and French Intern, Luc Bodénès, participated in a summer research project developed by Wright State University Department of Chemistry Associate Professor Audrey McGowin, researchers at YSI/Xylem in Yellow Springs, and Benjamin Silliman at Glen Helen Nature Preserve to test a new water-monitoring probe under development at YSI/Xylem. The goal was to collect data during “normal” stream flow conditions but also after rainstorms.
McGowin is interested in storm water runoff because it is very different from typical stream water. Storms wash harmful pollutants from land into ditches and streams. Ben Silliman’s interests lie in how land use affects water quality and how changes in land use can be used to protect Glen Helen Nature Preserve.
Desi and Luc collected water samples in Glen Helen from May to July in all kinds of weather conditions and brought those samples back to the laboratory for chemical analysis using ion chromatography. Their results were compared to data obtained from a new YSI water-monitoring probe to verify that data being collected by the probe was accurate. This process was also helpful in working out “bugs” that occur when equipment developed in the laboratory is installed in the field. The results showed that the probe was performing well and providing accurate results.
At the end of July, Luc returned to Brittany, France in Lannion where he will complete his degree in chemistry. Desi is a Master’s student in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences working with Assistant Professor Silvia Newell.
In 2015, McGowin was given the CoSM award for "Teaching Innovation" for the development and implementation of an Environmental Chemistry Service-Learning course in which students perform water quality monitoring in Glenn Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs, OH. This fall will be the seventh consecutive year that students have monitored the water in and around Glen Helen and presented their findings to the public.
