Student Research Reports

Hi Emily, my name is John Farver and I am a Geology Professor at Bowling Green State University and I have done alot of research on water quality. Your study is a very interesting one and roadsalt runoff is an important issue for many cities. I agree that collecting samples throughout the year especially after large rainfall/runoff events would be very useful. I hope you will continue your research into water quality issues.

Hello, Emily! My name is Larisa Schelkin, I am a GLOBE Partner, GLOBE GISN member and a proud GLOBE educator (https://www.globe.gov/web/larisa.schelkin/home). I am a retired petroleum engineer and an engineering R&D specialist. I now work with K-12 educators in a local non-profit Global STEM Education Center (www.globalstemcenter.org) in Massachusetts.
I greatly appreciate the topic you dedicated your research project to and also your passion for protecting the environment. I agree, that if we do nothing about this (and many other) environmental issue(s), it will "leave aquatic life and their environment at dangerous salt and chloride levels along with low oxygen levels". We need to conduct more research and share our findings with all concerned citizens (which should be all of us). Your project poster is well-organized; you collected and analyzed the GLOBE data and used GLOBE protocol. It was interesting to learn about some cities "using new methods such as beet juice or running hot water through pipes under roads" (Valleau, 2017). I applaud your point of view as a responsible “citizen scientist” and a “concerned environmental advocate”; thank you for sharing your thoughts on how to increase the awareness on these environmental issues. I would like to encourage you to continue your research! Great job!

Hi Emily -
My name is Shan Zuidema, and I'm a Research Scientist and PhD Candidate at the University of New Hampshire. I use computer simulation models to understand how we rely on, value, and affect watersheds and riverine ecosystems.

Thanks for sharing your work looking at the chloride chemistry of the watershed surrounding Dubuque during the spring snowmelt period of 2020. Your interpretations of the mechanisms (when melting happened and how that mobilized salt) seem totally reasonable - and that is more important than the actual magnitude of the changes. I see you chose three different types of water body to sample, do you think that the differences in observations at each site is related to the type of water body sampled? I agree with your conclusion of the meteorological controls on when melting occured and how that might be associated with chloride concentrations. Thanks again and keep it up!