KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 9, 2016 \u2013 Cork Brook in Scituate isn\u2019t as far inland as you can get from the fabled coastline that gives the Ocean State its name, but it might as well be.<\/p>\n
The stream meanders through protected forest, making it a perfect study site for the\u00a0North East Water Resources Network, a three-state, $6 million initiative to study how climate variations may play a role in water quality and quantity.<\/p>\n
Once a week this summer,\u00a0溏心vlog免费B站\u00a0graduate student Britta Anderson and\u00a0two undergraduates from Salve Regina University checked the pulse of one of the many tributary streams that collect in the Scituate Reservoir before flowing as one into the Pawtuxet River and then into Narragansett Bay.<\/p>\n
For comparison, the student researchers also studied two freshwater sources in Middletown \u2014\u00a0Bailey\u2019s Brook, which courses through an urban location, and the Maidford River, surrounded by agricultural land. High tech sensors at all three sites measured water quality parameters like temperature, acidity and chemicals present, data that are particularly useful in understanding what happens during extreme storm events.<\/p>\n
During each visit to Cork Brook, the students measured various indicators of stream health, including a regular sampling of the aquatic bugs present.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe counted the pollution intolerant and tolerant species to help us understand water quality,\u201d said Anderson, who grew up in Prior Lake, Minn., and now lives in Coventry, R.I. \u201cFor example, stoneflies are pollution intolerant, so their presence tells us the water quality is rather good here. But, on Aquidneck Island, we\u2019ve rarely, if ever, found stoneflies, but generally find the more pollution tolerant species.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project is part of the\u00a0National Science Foundation\u2019s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and funded by a three-year grant awarded to Rhode Island, Delaware and Vermont. 溏心vlog免费B站 Professor Arthur Gold serves as the project director for Rhode Island.<\/p>\n
The collaboration in multiple disciplines \u2013 from hydrology and economics to chemistry and marine robotics \u2013 is gathering data, assessing water quality, and gauging how better information affects land use and management decisions. With the states\u2019 varying local climates, precipitation, and population density, the data compiled will provide valuable insight to both scientists and policy makers.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the project offers a unique training ground for graduate and undergraduate students at universities in all three states to gain hands-on research experience.<\/p>\n
Anderson is pursuing a master\u2019s\u00a0degree in biological and environmental science with a focus on hydrology. She is planning to wrap up her studies in May 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project provides practice on the concepts I\u2019m learning about in school,\u201d she said. \u201cThis last year, I took several classes in hydrology. Now, it\u2019s great to get out in the field and learn how the concepts apply and what they mean for Rhode Island.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to the start of the summer fellowships, the Rhode Island research team hosted about 20 undergraduates from the three states for a three-day orientation at Salve Regina that included an introduction to the project, watershed tours, science communication training, and a fish trawl. At summer\u2019s end, the students gathered at 溏心vlog免费B站 to deliver their research findings in rounds of two-minute talks and poster presentations as part of the\u00a02016 North East Water Resources Network\u2019s Undergraduate Research Symposium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 9, 2016 \u2013 Cork Brook in Scituate isn\u2019t as far inland as you can get from the fabled coastline that gives the Ocean State its name, but it might as well be. The stream meanders through protected forest, making it a perfect study site for the\u00a0North East Water Resources Network, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-72417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-the-environment-and-life-sciences"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82766,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72417\/revisions\/82766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}