My Work in the Lab

Hey everyone,

These past few weeks I have been working in the lab with my adviser. We have multiple experiments happening at one time but two of them have caught my eye.

Two of his lab leaders are doing experiments based solely around a river and how X affects it. I was invited to lab a bit too late to learn about one of the experiments fully but I do know that she was testing and studying the algae growth at different points in the river. The best part is that I was able to go out into the field, or in this case the river, and get my hands wet in frigid waters.
Now, the other experiment is just now starting and she is studying the relationship between Daphnia and how Honeysuckle affects them.

Next semester I will try to keep my blogs about this experiment with updates and such and hopefully it will be pretty interesting.

And one last thing, when I was getting off the plane someone stopped me and said "Nice shirt" and they were referring to my GearFest shirt. Its pretty cool how widespread GearFest is.

Another RLC Update

Week 12

This week the RLC took on a global perspective of river systems. Nancy Nerny, board member for Dayton Public Schools, and Sr. Leanne Jablonski, Director of MEEC, led the class in discussions on global water issues. Previous to class, each student was assigned a case study to research. The case studies included: the sinking of Mexico City, water pollution in Malaysia, groundwater depletion in Hawaii, Israel, the Palestinians, and the Jordan River, and the Three Gorges Dam. With research in hand, the students shared what they had found. Each student filled out a “jigsaw” or, a chart with areas to fill in the information they had found. The chart included areas to fill in information on the case (conflict and its cause), scientific background, social implications, public policy, solutions, and Dayton implications. The students found the research interesting. Many of the students reflected on how the US takes water for granted. They were surprised by the water issues other people face around the world.

Week 13

This week, the RLC continued with global water issues. Building upon last week and the research the students conducted, the students viewed the movie Blue Gold. The movie, a documentary style film, is a report on water issues around the world signifying how the world’s water is precious. In response to the film the students answered the following journal question:

The last two classes have focused on global water issues. Reflecting on Blue Gold and the in-class activities what strikes you the most? What have you learned about water conflicts as a whole? What do you propose will be necessary to achieve solutions and access to clean and safe drinking water for all? Why is it important to have an interdisciplinary approach to leadership?

The students really responded to the film. One student recommended showing the film at the beginning of the semester in order to grab students’ attention about water issues. Having viewed the film earlier, this student thought he would have created a project proposal based on the film’s content.

Earlier this year in August, the River Stewards embarked on their annual Orientation for the incoming River Stewards. Accompanied by community partners and other River Stewards, the group of paddlers made their way down a 17 mile stretch ending on the Great Miami River near Sun Watch Indian Village. There, the Stewards packed up and participated in a small reflection exercises lead by brother Geiger. At one point during the reflection brother Geiger asked each member to pour a small amount of water from their water bottles into the river. He then prompted everyone to imagine where their water would end up in the future..

Now is the future. The water that was poured into the river could now be the snow atop a child's snowman. The water could be dispersed among the waves in the Gulf of Mexico, the reefs of Australia, or the currents of the Atlantic. The water could be sweat on the floor of the Rec Plex or even a puddle in a drainage system in Cincinnati. The water could be anywhere on the planet by now. The point is that we are interconnected by our watersheds. What we do here and now plays a role in what they will do then and there. Lets us be wise and diligent with what we do in the "here and now".

Be encouraged ye Stewards of the River!

Alexander Gaskins

Flying Home

As I flew home for deep-fried Turkey day in Virginia, I "tried" to look outside my window as the plane bumped and jerked from Dayton to D.C. The rivers I saw as I was about to land were very surprising to me because I had no idea that we had so many close to my house. The time in between hitting my head from the wind and from trying to make my knees as small as possible so the angry lady in front of me wouldn't turn around again, I attempted to find out where these rivers and lakes were.

Once I finally landed and kissed the ground a few times, I decided to go home and research the names of some of these nearby bodies of water. To my surprise I found that a lot of these were public rivers and lakes that could be used for recreation. The only disappointing part that I found was how under advertised these were. Compared to Dayton and how we all love and promote our rivers, the area I live in just sees them as a 'there' and nothing special.

I remember when I lived in the Cleveland area and how everyone loved the metroparks, the lakes and rivers, and the forests we had. Everyone knew where Beartown Lakes was and how LaDue Reservoir was a great place to fish, hang out, and go boating on. Now that I live in cruddy ol' Virginia, there is none of this, even though the amount of rivers and lakes nearby are much higher than that of Cleveland.

On a brighter side of things, I found that my family kept my bass boat from when we lived in Cleveland. Even though I am still unsure of how they pulled that boat 8 hours to DC I am glad they did. It made me realize that I can take this boat out, after registering it, and go enjoy the many lakes near my house. Also, my Opa talked to me during this small break and was ecstatic when I told him I had been kayaking in River Stewards and how much I loved doing it. Since he is a big kayaker himself, he gave me tips and tricks and even some money to buy my personal kayak for the spring and summer time so I can go explore the rivers and lakes near my house.

In the end, I found out how lucky Dayton is to have this much love for its rivers and lakes. As everyone says, you don't know what you got till its gone, and it is especially true in this case.

A Quick Update on the Last Few Weeks of the RLC

Week 9

This week, Dick Ferguson, the Director of the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community, spoke to the students about different leadership styles, how they work together, and how the students can use their leadership skills to complete their projects. Dick’s presentation was very valuable for the students to learn how their projects can contribute to the Dayton community.

Each student has an advisor that is a member of the Leadership Team who will work with them to finalize their project proposals by the end of the semester. The students will also be working together to give each other feedback on the project proposals.

Week 10

Stan Kegley from the City of Troy and Dr. Janet Bednarek of UD’s History Department both presented to the class during the tenth week. This class was to teach the students about localism and regionalism. Janet discussed with the students how people tend to perceive Dayton and the Dayton region and why they perceive it as such.

Stan talked about regionalism and how Dayton can act as a region to revitalize. Stan talked about how the outdoor recreation industry has revitalized other cities. He also explained what Ohio’s Great Corridor is doing to promote the region around the Great Miami River.

Week 11

Dusty Hall returned to our classroom this year but in a different role. Dusty now works for SOCHE, Southwestern Council for Higher Education as the Executive Director of Student Development and Program Innovation. Dusty returned to the classroom to again talk to the students about leadership in Dayton. A big fan of Arthur Morgan, Dusty used Morgan as an example of leadership skills. He also pointed out the flaws Morgan had as a leader (See student Ashley Neimeier’s post below about her own learning about Morgan). Dusty brought his new co-worker with him, Maggie Varga. Maggie is a former River Steward and Graduate Assistant for the Rivers Institute. She is now the Director of Program Innovation for SOCHE. Dusty and Maggie continued their presentation with discussion on hypoxia and the cap and trade program Dusty developed.

Elise McElwain from CYP Studios followed Dusty and Maggie’s presentation with an overview of Low Impact Development techniques. Several students are planning their proposals around LID so the presentation was very beneficial. CYP Studios, located in Centerville, serves the area in landscape architecture services.

Arthur E. Morgan and leadership

This semester in the River Leadership Curriculum course we are studying, among a multitude of other things, the leadership style of Arthur E. Morgan. Morgan was, at one point in his life, a Greater Daytonian, having served as president of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH between 1920 and 1936. In addition Morgan's ultra-successful engineering plans and strong leadership helped to shape river systems in the Dayton region.

While RLC students agreed that his leadership tactics were "visionary," most could not deny his tendency to sometimes be close-minded and uncompromising.

In a little out of class stumbling and in pursuit of my own personal inquiries into what constitutes as reasons for belief, I discovered the following essay/podcast by Arthur E. Morgan: http://thisibelieve.org/essay/16833/

(as many will remember, "This I Believe" is the First Year read this academic year)

A blustery day to all

Ashley

University of Dayton and River Stewards in US Airways Magazine

US Airways Magazine / University of Dayton

The Stewards take to the sky....Follow this link to view the article!