Another TPG started in ENVS 110!

 

Savannah will be interviewed on the Mid Ohio Breakfast Club Radio Show on Friday, October 14 around 8:15am. The show airs weekdays from 6am-9am on My967 at 96.7 FM or AM 1270 WDLR.

Adopt-A-Drain

Ohio Wesleyan Student Collaborates to Launch Water-Quality Improvement Program

By Cole Hatcher

Savannah Domenech ’25

DELAWARE, Ohio – As a high school student volunteering to clean up litter in her New York hometown, Savannah Domenech quickly realized that a coordinated, continuous effort involving lots of people was necessary to make the type of permanent, positive environmental impact she sought to achieve.

As an Ohio Wesleyan University student, Domenech, a sophomore from Webster, New York, found an opportunity to collaborate with the City of Delaware and the community to improve local water quality. This month, she is spearheading the launch of the city’s Adopt-a-Drain program that invites people to adopt storm drains and clean them regularly to prevent trash and other debris from entering area waterways.

“Be a stormwater hero – adopt a drain!” said Domenech, an Environmental Studies and Geography double-major. “Any person can agree to do a biweekly clean-up on and around a storm drain of their choosing within Delaware City.”

Those who choose to participate are improving the environment with “simple, quick actions” that will help to reduce localized flooding, improve stormwater quality, and enhance community and neighborhood cleanliness, she said.

Domenech began working on the Adopt-a-Drain project in her ENVS 110 (Introduction to Environment and Sustainability) class and has earned an OWU Connection grant to help her launch the Adopt-a-Drain program.

She is beginning the project in earnest this month by encouraging members of the OWU campus community to adopt drains to clean and maintain. In November, she plans to roll out the program to the larger Delaware community when a Stormwater Watch Quarterly newsletter will be mailed to residents with their utility bills and posters will be posted around downtown. More details and sign-up information are available online now at stormwater.owu.edu.

David Soliday, Ohio Wesleyan’s instructional technologist, was first in line to adopt a drain and help Domenech test the program’s protocols.

“I’m happy to help,” said Soliday, also a longtime member of the Sustainable Delaware environmental community group. “As an adopter, I’ll be keeping the drain clear of debris. This includes leaves in the fall, and any kind of trash or litter. I have committed to fill out a brief survey when I do, to track how much and what kind of debris I collect.

“These drains empty into the Olentangy River, which is the source of our tap water in the city,” said Soliday, who hopes others embrace the green initiative. “Excessive debris can clog the pipes, and otherwise complicate matters downstream, where the same river is a valuable resource for Worthington, Columbus, and other communities. My taking responsibility for this drain also helps raise awareness of our connection to the natural world around us.”

As people adopt drains, Domenech said, their “I’m adopted!” choices will be mapped online using the ArcGIS Online software.

Domenech’s project is being completed in collaboration with the City of Delaware’s Department of Public Utilities; Erin Wolfe, the city’s watershed and sustainability coordinator; and Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of Environment and Sustainability.

Press release below duplicated from here.

New article by recent grad Jessie Dong & Dr. Anderson

From Dr. Anderson: Some of you may remember Jess Dong, who graduated in 2021. Jess wrote an awesome student paper in my Plant Responses to Global Change class in Spring 2020 and I suggested she develop it into a review article for publication. With some help from me and lots of input from peer review, she worked over the last two years to generate this publication in the journal Food Webs.

The article is in an open source journal, and can be found at the link below.

Predicted impacts of global change on bottom-up trophic interactions in the plant-ungulate-wolf food chain in boreal forests

Jess Dong
Ohio State University, School of Environment and Natural Resources, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210, United States of America

Laurel J. Anderson
Ohio Wesleyan University, Departments of Biological Sciences and Environment & Sustainability, 61 S Sandusky St, Delaware, OH 40315, United States of America

 

 

Camp Oh-Wooo Service in Glen Echo Ravine, Aug. 20, 2022

A big bunch of new OWU Freshmen and assorted handlers spent a very pleasant morning pulling out invasive plants and planting native species.

The walk in to the site, through Glen Echo Park.

About 15 large lawn waste bags of periwinkle and dwarf honeysuckle – both invasives that negatively affect leaf-litter (and thus a key habitat for reptiles and other animals) – were removed.

Students also planted native wild geraniums.