Wright State students do creek, library and garden work in Appalachia as part of honors sustainability course

A storefront in the tiny southeastern Ohio village of New Straitsville pulses as a nerve center of efforts to undo the environmental ravages of pre-regulation coal mining. Inside, three Wright State University students cluster around a watershed coordinator, peppering him with questions about their role.

The students are about to take water samples from Monday Creek, which at one time was said to be “dead as a bag of hammers” due to acid mine drainage. The small Monday Creek Restoration Project (MCRP) storefront provides plenty of inspiration for the students to help reclaim the creek.

Maps of