New Year, Same Water

Happy new year to all. 

It feels so good to be back on campus with a whole fresh semester just beginning. As the snow continues to fall outside my window I am reminded of how intriguing water is. While skydiving over break I was able to witness water in several different forms, as snow on the ground, as water in lakes and ponds scattered far below me, and as ice for all the ice skaters out there. I was also reminded of the power of water when the water main broke in Marianist Hall this christmas break.

Last semester was the start of my Junior year at UD as a mechanical engineering major. As for most majors … Junior year is one of those most dreaded times in college. This past semester helped me grow in brilliant ways and offered many opportunities across different areas. I learned about myself, grew as a leader, and had some great experiences this past semester. Some of my courses finally had direct connections to the pillars of the Rivers Institute … including my Fluid Dynamics class (the first day we talked about rivers and water flow through pipes for a quarter of the class! and we designed and analyzed pipe flow for our capstone project at the end of the semester) and the ASI 345 River Leadership Curriculum course. I really enjoyed the RLC course, learning about the 1913 Flood, exploring and investigating Cincinnati’s River Front and Combined sewer systems, and developing a proposal related to river leadership.

This semester has only just begun and I’ve already made connections to the Rivers Institute in some of my classes including Environmental Geology and my Engineering Ethics class. In our first reading for the Engineering Ethics class we’ve already started talking about rivers in relation to the design process. How the language of the design process flows and drifts just as a river changes courses over time.

While spending a lovely few weeks at home in New York I found out Buffalo, like Cincinnati, has a combined sewer system. It’s crazy how many connections we can make between cities and see how rivers really do connect us all. Over break I was also able to spend a day touring Cincinnati with some friends and even exploring the beautiful river front development:

River Love of course,
Abigail Spohn
Mechanical Engineering

Where it is still warm: the Bahamian Islands

Hello River Friends!

I was fortunate enough to spend some time in the Bahamas during my winter break. Around so much water it was hard not to think about, well, water!  It is not new news that people everywhere depend on water (whether they know it or not), but in some places people depend on water much more than others.  On a small island in the Bahamas water both destroys and provides growth.  A reef on the coast at the island I was staying at was destroyed, not because of humans, but because a hurricane deposited sand into the reef.  On another part of the coast a hurricane took away the white sand that made up the whole beach.  For me, this was a reminder that it isn't just humans that may destroy wildlife habitat.  Although, this does not mean that humans can’t still help care for places so unaffected by humans like the Bahamian Island of Man-O-Way Cay. 

On the white sand beach and very blue water of the Bahamas a beach cleanup was organized by some local Bahamians.  Naturally, after seeing some posters (meant for locals) I decided that it was an excellent idea to crash the beach cleanup.  

Cleanup crew in the distance

Help was needed to remove this heavy rope!

Evidence of the amount of garbage collected

Obviously the view was awful (I am kidding, it's gorgeous!)

It was really great to work alongside people that care about where they live and that it stays beautiful, and refreshing to interact with people that really work with the environment that they live in.  

Thankfully, there are river stewards and ocean stewards elsewhere in the world, and if I ever see another poster to help do a cleanup while traveling I would definitely try to participate again!

River Love,

Rachel

Beyond the Mini Course

Take a look at this picture. (I know, it's just a black rectangle. just humor me for a few seconds). Also plug your ears. Well go on, do it.

Buried deep within Flyer folklore, probably in an ancient papyrus scroll or a dusty leather-bound book somewhere in the Roesch Library stacks, exists a tale of great adventure passed down from upper classmen to lower classmen through the ages. It tells of a magical cave of wonder (definitely not a dirty storm sewer) that sleeps under the very foundation of the UD campus, and stretches from beyond Stuart Hall all the way to the Great Miami. It's walls are crowded with detailed prehistoric cave carvings (definately not half-assed graffiti), but when the lights go out, the picture above is all you see. The blackness is thick, and it is eerily quiet save for the echoing trickle of water passing beneath your feet. You wave your hand in front of your face, and your eyes open wide as you ask them to see something. Anything.

...No good. it's too dark, and you and your group are forced to re-light the torches (definately not LED headlamps)  and trek onward for over a mile of  soggy subterranean creepiness. As you walk, you can't help but think of the basements of buildings that you pass under, the tree roots in the dirt far above that branch down towards you like chandeliers, the people on the surface whose feet might be directly over your head, and how they have no idea you're even there.

A faint blue glow lights the path just ahead, and as you round the last turn you kill the lights. Nearly a full hour of darkness opens up into a brilliantly bright moon above, and a shimmering river below. Fresh air. Tall river grass. A hunger for exploration heartily satisfied. Friendships strengthened. Memories forever made. This is what awaits any adventurer bold enough to make the dark journey for themselves.

...Or at least that's how the stories go. You'll have to choose who to believe. Many adventurers (definately not an undisclosed selection of River Stewards and myself) have many stories. And not just stories of this particular adventure. There are so many caves, streams, trails, crawls and climbs to be discovered all around the Dayton area. And some people (definately not myself) are so grateful to have such a solid group of friends (definately not the 2016 River Stewards cohort) who are always ready to brave the next adventure.

Here's to the next five semesters we'll share, and the countless adventures that await.

River love all around,

Matt Lickenbrock
2016 Cohort

CNN Hero of the Year is a River Steward through and through!

For a little inspiration and river love, check out this story about CNN Hero of the Year...

Rivers' garbageman named CNN Hero of the Year

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/19/world/hero-of-the-year/index.html?c=us&page=0

The Power of Collaboration

Working collaboratively to improve and protect Dayton’s natural resources, educate the public, and devote ourselves to service are activities we, the River Stewards, have accomplished this semester. 
Alone, I could never move a picnic table (I completely lack the upper body strength).  But with a group of 19 bright minded students, it would be no problem and this is just what my cohort and I did.  The River Stewards took a service trip to SunWatch, an authentic Native American village close to the Great Miami River, and moved 15 very heavy picnic tables in no time flat. Our leader at SunWatch said we worked well as a team and exceeded his expectations.  This exemplifies “the power of collaboration” the Rivers Institute fosters.     
© 2013 Natural Springs Resort
We are a diverse and very cool group of sophomores who, when we work together, can accomplish anything.  Diversity is one of the main reasons we work so well together because we apply interesting perspectives to accomplish our goals.  For instance, it was the engineering majors that figured out the best way to transfer the picnic tables.  With collaboration, little ideas turn into big actions which in turn impact the community.
A set of principles with emphasis on improving our community through sustained ecological initiatives such as education and servant leadership are instilled in every River Steward.   I believe River Stewards, both past and present, employ the perspectives of servant leadership and environmentalism in their everyday life.  We work together to promote and protect the Great Miami River Watershed and its surrounding community.  As we work within the community, we strive to set a positive example and hope that other community leaders will follow by helping to support The Rivers Institute mission to build opportunities for the Dayton Community by viewing our rivers as a key natural resource central to the communal, economic, aesthetic and ecological vitality of the region 

The Power of Collaboration by Danielle Patton

Working collaboratively to improve and protect Dayton’s natural resources, educate the public, and devote ourselves to service are activities we, the River Stewards, have accomplished this semester. 
Alone, I could never move a picnic table (I completely lack the upper body strength).  But with a group of 19 bright minded students, it would be no problem and this is just what my cohort and I did.  The River Stewards took a service trip to SunWatch, an authentic Native American village close to the Great Miami River, and moved 15 very heavy picnic tables in no time flat. Our leader at SunWatch said we worked well as a team and exceeded his expectations.  This exemplifies “the power of collaboration” the Rivers Institute fosters.     
© 2013 Natural Springs Resort
We are a diverse and very cool group of sophomores who, when we work together, can accomplish anything.  Diversity is one of the main reasons we work so well together because we apply interesting perspectives to accomplish our goals.  For instance, it was the engineering majors that figured out the best way to transfer the picnic tables.  With collaboration, little ideas turn into big actions which in turn impact the community.
A set of principles with emphasis on improving our community through sustained ecological initiatives such as education and servant leadership are instilled in every River Steward.   I believe River Stewards, both past and present, employ the perspectives of servant leadership and environmentalism in their everyday life.  We work together to promote and protect the Great Miami River Watershed and its surrounding community.  As we work within the community, we strive to set a positive example and hope that other community leaders will follow by helping to support The Rivers Institute mission to build opportunities for the Dayton Community by viewing our rivers as a key natural resource central to the communal, economic, aesthetic and ecological vitality of the region.

River Love,
Danielle Patton

Thin Places

Once upon a mini course Brother Brandon graced us with some beautiful words and some interesting things to think about. Particularly striking was his description of “thin places.” He explained that these could be places or people, landscapes or moments where the veil between Heaven and Earth is thin, where the spiritual realm touches the mortal, where the presence of God can be felt resonating from the ground to the air to the infinite sky and all things are connected. In these places the past and the future are irrelevant, the to-do lists are nonexistent, and the opinions of others are, to a great extent, powerless. There is simply peace. And understanding. And the knowledge that right here in this place or at this moment or with these people is exactly the right place to be. It’s an affirmation that you, me, we, belong. Here. Now.

A lot of us Stews experience these thin places within the program. Maybe some of us felt it at the paddle before school started when the sun was warm but the water was cool and we learned how to move as a unit. Or maybe at the campfire when the air was crisp but the fire was glowing and music filled the spaces between the stars. Maybe even just at mini course every Friday when we reunite with the people that share our common passion and adventurous spirit. I think we all recognize these “thin places” or “thin moments.” We run into them unexpectedly and we let them gently remind us to breathe. We let them lull us into awareness; nudge us into the world with a new perspective.

I think a big part of our goal as Stews is to make these places and moments more accessible to the entirety of the community. We want people on the river and at the parks and together in hope that they can feel it too—that they can feel connected and present and alive. We want them to see the beauty of nature and humanity and the remarkable way they are one. That incredible duality is why we’re all here. It’s what makes us love being stewards.

Keep the river love flowin’, y’all,

Anna Adami 

2016 Cohort