Lincoln University Cooperative Research and the Army Research Office

Student Environmental Science Exploration Summit

May 15-19, 2006

Jefferson City, MO

            With support of the Army Research Office, Lincoln University organized the Environmental Science Exploration Summit on campus in Jefferson City, MO during May 15-19, 2006, which was the second event conducted under proposal No. 49445-EV-CF.   The primary purpose of the Summit was to provide an opportunity for students to gain experience and skills in the application of environmental practices in solving environmental problems that affect the public as well as army operations.  There were approximately 70 attendants in this event, including guests from EPA-Region VII, Missouri Department of Natural Resource (MDNR), Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), local environmental group; faculty and students from the Missouri State University, University of Missouri-Columbia as well as Lincoln University.  The summit was a week-long activity, and LU students received one credit hour upon completing requirements of field trips, training, and reporting

Day 1- The event started with welcome remarks by Dr. Mahoney, LU president, and other LU administrators, followed by remarks by administrators from MDNR and MDC.  The opening program was featured with a keynote speech entitled Environmental Justice by Ms. Althea M. Moses, Environmental Justice Program Manager of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII.  The new Environmental Science B.S. Degree

Program at Lincoln University was also introduced to the participants by the Department chair of Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.  In poster session, faculty and students from LU, UMC, and MSU presented about 20 research posters of various topics on environmental study, including remediation technology, environmental monitoring & risk assessment, nanotechnology, geospatial assessment, etc. In a Biological Monitoring session, Mrs. Priscilla Scotts (Missouri DNR) briefed current field methodology and procedures on biological monitoring and water quality assessment.  Her presentation dealt with how to determine the streams health by sampling the biological community and also overviewed micro invertebrates, the different aquatic faunal regions in Missouri, and different aspects of the habitat.  The event ended with tours on LU Environmental Research laboratory and facilities;

Day 2- LU faculty and students had an all-day field trip to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri for observing environmental studies and activities within the army installation.  They visited the water, waste water treatment plants, and solid waste landfill sites.  The army officers described current environmental studies or projects in the community and also discussed with students in some environmental problems and concerns;

Day 3- Students had field trips to 1) Grays Creek in Cole County, MO to conduct field assessment of stream water quality using assessment procedures for macro-invertebrate biological monitoring, with help from MDNR Stream Team; 2) Hough Park Lake, Jefferson City, MO to practice field sampling techniques and collect environmental samples including water, soils, and plant tissues for laboratory analyses.  Sample collection and laboratory analyses were conducted to expose students to the following focus areas: water chemistry, water microbiology, soil chemistry & microbiology, fish tissue analyses for mercury, and water quality monitoring using macro invertebrate screening.  In the field, students also learned procedures to use GPS instruments for determining geographic coordinates or location of the sampling sites;

Day 4- Students practiced sample-processing techniques and performed laboratory analytical procedures for the collected samples.  Those analyses included moisture content, metal analyses, pH, dissolved oxygen, dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, pesticide content, bacteria culture & counting, etc.

Students at the Missouri DNR Emergency Response Operation

Day 5- Students had a tour of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Environmental Laboratories for observing states-of-the art analytical instruments (ICP, ICP-MS, AA, GC, GC-MS, etc.) and their application for environmental analyses, environmental emergency response operations, environmental sample handling, and weather, air & water monitoring operations.  The Summit concluded with student formal PowerPoint presentations of the results of laboratory analyses on the collected environmental samples. 

The student presentations included:

Outcomes

          All fourteen participating students received a one-hour credit under Lincoln University course number AGR-175 (Agriculture Seminar) for successfully completing requirements of the Environmental Science Exploration Summit. They were very pleased to be provided with this opportunity exposing them to environmental problems and issues facing humans today and gaining practical experience and skills dealing with the environmental problems through field trips and experiential learning.  Stakeholders and the public had very positive formal and informal comments about the Summit and would like to see similar events or workshops to be organized on regular basis in the future.

A graduate student from MSU shows her poster