Ciao da bella Firenze!

I am just about a week into my study abroad experience and I am loving every second of it. Leaving this beautiful city will be very hard, although I am excited to get back to Dayton and join my fellow stews as a River’s Institute Intern!

Running through Florence is the Arno river, which I am fortunate to be staying only a block away from. Each morning I cross a bridge to get to my classes, and through my classes I have learned a lot of the significance of the Arno River in Florence’s history. Unlike many of the other Tuscan towns which are located on hilltops, Florence is in a valley. Florence was never troubled with water shortages, the sanitation and hygienic practices were historically superior than other cities, fish was a staple product, and mills along the river allowed for manufacturing. Despite all the benefits, the river still is prone to flooding, and there are chronicles dating back to the medieval times of the devastation caused by the floods at least once or twice each century. The most recent massive flood occurred on November 4^th, 1966, and was considered to be the worst flood since 1557.  The floodwaters reached over 6.7 meters (22 feet) at some places. This flood had a lasting impact on the city, and restoration work is still being done to this day.

While walking around the city, I found one of the high water markers from the flood. Looks very similar to what we have in downtown Dayton!

Another cool thing about Florence is all the parks and gardens available for the citizens and tourists. I happened to pick up a newspaper in Florence that was written in English, and there was a short article about the green space in the city. Here is quote from the mayor of Florence: “There are 376 gardens and 25 parks in Florence, totaling more than 3.5 million square meters of public green space… we have also approved a ‘zero volume’ structural plan, which means putting a stop to land consumption, and ensuring there is a park or garden no more than 10 minutes away from the house of every Florentine.” Awesome!

 Arno at sunset

The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge") 

The low dam

River Love, 

Stephanie 

From Dayton to Bloomington to California to India

Happy summer everyone! I can't believe I'm not a baby stew anymore this year as a river steward has flown by and I must say it was spectacular. I learned so so much about the the waters that surround us at UD and how they can impact a campus and a city by increasing the feel of ownership and community for everyone. I can't wait to keep learning next year, and even though I am cooping in Cincinnati next semester, I am going to be as involved as possible and I hope. I hope I get a chance to work with the RiverMobile giving tours and such because I had a blast the last time during Stander.

So this past year I've learned a lot about the aquifer and how lucky we are to have such clean water, and it's been really interesting to apply that knowledge to other places I go. When I go home to Bloomington, water isn't something that gets talked about a lot. B-town is pretty hippy to start with, so there is a lot of environmental awareness in the community. However, we always talk about the trees and the air when we talk about environmental issues, and it's very rare that I ever hear about water. I am pretty sure we don't have any kind of clean water scarcity issues, so I think that people just don't even consider how lucky we are.

I just went to Redlands California for about a week to visit one of my best friends that goes to school there. In Redlands they get a lot of pollution from LA, so they have a lot of clean air and water issues. Everyone makes sure to use water purifiers and drinking tap water is just asking to get sick, according to the students I talked to. It was yet another wake up call for me when I was chastised for filling my glass up in the sink like I would do in Dayton. The idea that tap water isn't drinkable was so alien to me, and it's so sad that so many people can't just drink water from their sink. I told everyone about our aquifer and how lucky we are to have such awesome clean water and everyone decided the next time I visit I need to bring some Dayton tap water so they can taste it for themselves.

In a couple days I leave for my 10 week ETHOS immersion to India. I'm excited and a little nervous for this new adventure and I'm interested to see what I will learn and experience water wise while I am there. I am not supposed to drink any local water or eat anything that was soaked or made in local water because of the diseases that travel in the water there. In the class I took preparing us for this trip, I was taught that in many places in the world people get sick and die from dirty infected water every single day. I knew that many places don't have clean water, but that was the first time I really thought about the fact that some people's only source of drinking water, which everyone needs to survive, is also the cause of serious sickness and death. It's unbelievable to think about and yet again makes me realize how lucky we are and that we need to appreciate it to the fullest.

Another thing I got the chance to experience this semester was the love that so many people have for the city of Dayton. One of my favorite volunteering experiences this semester was at OctoberFest, watching the bikes people could leave while they wandered around listening to the awesome live music, seeing the cool art in the tents, and sampling the beer. The lady we worked with was part of BikeDayton and she was just so excited about the Dayton community and everything it has to offer. The other people volunteering with us were the same way and everyone surrounding us at the event was friendly and wanted to talk about all the great things Dayton has to offer, many of which are hidden and not widely known. It was great to be around such a great community full of love and respect for their city and everything it has to offer, and I hope that I continue to become part of that great community serving and giving back to Dayton and UD.

RiverLove,

Saehan
Mechanical Engineering

Le Jardin Botanique

Greetings from mainland Europe! I feel very fortunate to be in such a beautiful place.

While friends back home are wrapping up the Spring semester I am obliged to continue with my studies in Geneva, Switzerland. In cahoots with the other students in my program, I decided to opt out of attending my one remaining French language class and even though I enjoyed the professor's quirky sense of fashion and sometimes equally far out teaching methods, the thought of no exam has lighted the study burden considerably. In any event I still manage to meet twice weekly to practice French with my tandem language partner, an African man studying for his master's degree in environmental science.

Now I want to talk about my newest intrigue: garden hopping. As an alternative to reading in my flat and also in face of a few cloudy and windy days, I have been regularly riding my bike to Le Jardin Botanique. Le Jardin Botanique is a beautiful conservatory and trail park on the left bank of Lake Geneva. Specifically, the garden is connected to at least 5 other parks bordering the lake.
Below, see some photos of various flora and plant life invading the greenhouse.
The garden features plenty of eco-friendly practices. For example, stashed near the entrance stand several compost bins and independent garden plots, presumably meant for locals to harvest produce of their own.

After passing through the bulk of the garden, one runs into Lake Geneva which sports a 100m jet fountain as well as nude spa goers when the weather happens to turn for the better. Given the Alpine origins of its water, the lake is the bluest of blues. I'm told that it's pleasant for a swim (nude or non-nude) in the summertime.

But despite the lake's popularity, my most desperate wish is to float down a portion of one of the two rivers that empty into its banks. When I brought up the idea of planning a trip to swim in the river at some point, one of my flatmates, a sunny Salvadoran named Carolina, told me that the water is probably far too cold for this.
"But, it looks too good to resist!" I replied. She only laughed.

happy Springtime (and belatedly Earth Day!),
Ashley Niemeier

Three Months ... One Rain Barrel

Splish! Splash! Another rain drop hit my dash as I was driving to Cincinnati last week. On Thursday, April 18^th I drove to the Cincinnati Zoo to check out the newest exhibit at the Go Green Garden – the Rain Barrel Exhibit and Auction. This day was the culmination of three months of planning, painting, and hard work and was an exciting day for all involved.

[see the Rain Barrel Event at the Cincinnnati Zoo]:

This semester I took on one large project through the Rivers Institute: transforming a very large Rain Barrel from plain brown to an intricate map of the communities around Dayton and the surrounding rivers that connect us.

[see picture of the Rain Barrel at the Beginning]:

 We started this project at the end of last semester with our application for a barrel and creating our design. After hearing so much about the River Mobile and getting our first glimpse at a recent River Steward class we decided to use the map from the side of the River Mobile and sketch it onto the barrel as best we could. We also wanted to involve all the stewards in this project so we planned to have the stewards paint their handprints on the remainder of the barrel – to show how we are all connected – the people and the rivers.

At the end of January our huge rain barrel was dropped off on our doorstep and we started work right away. Cue sanding, priming, priming, and painting the barrel white 3 or 4 times… Then our barrel was finally ready to receive our sketch. This was the hard part – taking a map from the side of a tractor trailer, shrinking it to 2X3 feet, and attempting to sketch & trace it onto a 3D 60-gallon drum. After several days and nights of sketching and erasing, darkening lines and redrawing buildings so they weren't falling over… we were pretty satisfied with our sketch – I would say it turned out pretty fantastic for a couple of mechanical engineers and a biology major!

[see pictures: the sketching process & the finished sketch on the barrel]:

 Next steps: paint EVERYTHING! For the next month we painted and painted and sometimes painted ourselves more than the rain barrel. We painted UD’s chapel, the 5 rivers in Dayton, the Dayton Art Institute, the headwaters near Tory/Piqua, and much more.

[see picture of finished barrel]:

Then we gathered numerous stewards into our studio and painted their handprints on the two-thirds of the barrel that were remaining.

[see picture of steward handprints]:

The final steps were to paint a thin coat of sealer on the whole barrel to protect our beautiful design from the elements [since a Rain Barrel collects rain, it has to be outside to work properly]! Then the unveiling event finally arrived – on April 18 – and I was able to see all the Rain Barrels that were up for auction at the Cincinnati Zoo. We were actually lucky and our Rain Barrel was bought / sponsored at the beginning of the whole process! A UD alum who currently lives in Cincinnati liked our sketch / plan for the barrel and purchased it before we began painting it!

[see picture of me on stage with the Rain Barrel; see picture of the other Rain Barrels up for auction]:

I had such a wonderful time working on this project this semester. I was actually cooping this semester in Troy so I wasn't on campus that much but this project was the perfect way for me to be still very involved with the River Stewards. I also really enjoyed how much fun painting the barrel was. I haven’t ever painted on such a large scale before and I would say it turned out very well! This project also really highlighted the “interdisciplinary” nature of the Rivers Institute and I hope I can be involved in similar projects like this in the future!

Can’t wait to go kayaking this summer – who knows, maybe I’ll be painting a kayak next!

River Love,

Abigail Spohn

Mechanical Engineering

River Mobile, Water ATM, and Huffman Dam

Hello Readers!

Well, it’s official… I am no longer a “Baby Stew”!  As much as it would be nice to stay a “baby” for a little bit longer (because not being a “baby stew” anymore just means I am that much closer to graduating which is scary and exciting all in one!) I am really, really excited to welcome in the new stews, and continue my journey as a River Steward.  There are still more hours to be had along the rivers, in the River Mobile, and with my fellow stews.

Speaking about the River Mobile, if you have not seen it you need to, and if you have you should stop in again anyway because I know of many fellow River Stewards (including myself) who would be really happy to give you a tour!  The River Mobile is truly a labor of love.  It takes part muscle, part coaxing, and part patience to assemble the stairs, wrap the trailer in skirts, cover the doors with awnings, and set up the tents so that it is ready to go (plus a few more details in set-up).  It is all worth it, however, because it is an awesome way to share our knowledge, and lead others so that they can become stewards.

One of the “Hear and Now” panels in the River Mobile (found in the middle classroom on the trailer that shows the water cycle, where our water goes when you turn on the tap, and explains the aquifer) shows that in Dayton our aquifer is an excellent water resource, and elsewhere around the globe people don’t have access to such great resources.  Recently, I learned about “Water ATM’s”.  In a nutshell a “Water ATM” provides clean and reliable water for those who live in the “last mile” and do not have access to the larger filtration stations (which are a part of the same “water system”) found in town.  The whole concept, from the larger filtration units found in towns to the water ATM’s found further out, is run locally.  As a student studying engineering this design is really exciting because it is solving a problem on an appropriate local level (in other words it is great design).   As a River Steward it is exciting to see people around the world focus their attention on water, and it is a reminder that positive change is always possible!  Check out the articles below to see pictures and read about the water ATMs.  

Brief explanation of the Water ATMs (note the use of "water steward" in article!)

    

Another article, with more pictures!

The pictures below show my cohort, the 2015 cohort, at Huffman Dam where we went to enjoy the outdoors and reflect together as a cohort.  We visited the Huffman Dam during one of our mini courses, bringing our journey as "babies" full circle from when we began our orientation paddle at the Taylorsville Dam.

From left to right: Kyle, Saehan, Peter, Abigail (purple jacket), Hailey, Megan (red sweatshirt), Katelyn, and Jeanmarie

From left to right: Megan, Abigail, Katelyn, Hailey, Jeanmarie, Saehan, Kyle, and Peter

River Love,

Rachel

Rachel Bachmann

2015 Cohort

Electrical Engineering Major

               

                

Reconnecting Our Waterways and Being a Junior (Yikes!)

Hello again, readers!

As I approach the last fourth of my Junior year as a River Steward (oh my goodness, that's difficult to say and even think about!), I keep realizing just how far I've come since my first Orientation trip as a Sophomore. It's not just about teaching people of all ages about the assets our rivers are, or kayaking to experience the beauty of the rivers, or learning about the policy, science, engineering, business, culture, and education that governs our rivers - I've learned that pieces of all those disciplines come together to form a unique vision for every region. If there's water, you can bet there will be impassioned people.

I've come across a really cool initiative in Indianapolis called Reconnecting to Our Waterways, aka ROW): the science of a better city. The second I saw it, it reminded me a lot of what we do in River Stewards - they have elements to improve the quality of life, or vitality, of their region, just like we do. They have plans and measurement techniques to gauge their successes, like we do. They even have a pretty neat video with time lapse, like we do! I think that this kind of approach to city development - focusing on our natural assets, approaching the development from a holistic, vital viewpoint - is what cities in the United States need to be healthier, happier, and more successful. There's a certain imbalance if a city focuses solely on economic development, or just on its ecological vitality, or just the aesthetics of a region. Cities work better when everything works together. It's why I love the River Summit and why I love being a Steward: everyone comes together to learn and teach and help others see our region  as the amazing place we know it to be - to make life great. 

Check out their website, it's pretty neat!

http://reconnectingtoourwaterways.org/

P.S. In other news, I was so happy to discover that one of my favorite pop up shops from Activated Spaces has a permanent residence and a new name: TRADE. GO DAYTON!

River Love,

Liz

Junior League of Dayton

On February 23, 2013 Liz Morrison, Allie Rakowski and I had the opportunity to make a presentation at the Junior League of Dayton. We informed them of the great natural resources there are in Dayton and how amazing our water is as an asset.  I enjoyed informing the numerous women in the audience because they are all leaders in Dayton and can help to spread our knowledge of Dayton's water.  We also learned about other initiatives in Dayton such as; Peace on Fifth, Cutureworks, ThinkTV and Dayton Development Coalition.  The morning was very enjoyable.  Above is a picture of us with Jessica Saunders a former Fitz Center member.  

River Love,

Angela Brancatelli