Past Events:
June 27, 2023: The Rivers of Illinois Coordinating Council was held at the Mel Price Lock and Dam. One of the speakers spoke about community/citizen science opportunities in Illinois and made a nod to me and to RiverWatch during her presentation. I was pleased to represent NGRREC at this meeting convened by Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton. She was very kind, including posing for a picture with me at the top of the dam.
January 25, 2023: Last week we held the world premiere of our short film, Mussel Grubbing: A Citizen Science Treasure Hunt. I am so thrilled with how the film turned out, and it has been so well-received!
April 18, 2022: I was honored to spend part of the evening on an e-roundtable discussion hosted by Senator Laura Ellman. Here's the video of the event in case you're interested.
February 24, 2022: A new publication is out!! After about a year of reading, writing and revising, a paper has been published that I co-wrote with three of the citizen scientists from the St. Louis chloride monitoring program. Find out more here: https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4594
July 1, 2020: I have finally been able to schedule a series of Open Lab events across Illinois for the RiverWatch volunteers. These sessions are opportunities for the trained volunteers to bring the invertebrates they've collected to look at them under a microscope. I'll be there to answer questions and help them identify troublesome critters. As an added bonus, these sessions held in July and August are the first chance I'll have to meet the citizen scientists of RiverWatch.
June 23, 2020: I've been having weekly Zoom meetings with three of the citizen scientists who worked with me on the road salt study in St. Louis. It has been a pleasure to discuss papers from the scientific literature with them. They share their observations and questions from the readings with the background and perspective of a seasoned scientist, but the joy and awe of a child making a new revelation. These conversations are inspirational to me and have helped me maintain my motivation in this era of social distancing. I look forward to these conversations each week!!
June 14, 2020: Today I participated in a training session that was a first for me. I got into a 32+ foot canoe with 9 other people and paddled 54 miles on the Missouri River. I've paddled on the Missouri River many times before, including a 100-mile journey from Hermann, MO to the confluence with the Mississippi River. The new part was that this was a training run for a challenging river race later this summer: the MR340. This race is a journey down the 340 miles of the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Charles.
So, what does this have to do with Aquatic Ecology, Road Salt, and Citizen Science? Actually, more than even I thought at first. The real question is what do these have in common? In their own ways, they all entail challenges, growth, and exploration. Rather than go into more depth here, keep an eye out for an forthcoming blog post...
May 16, 2020: Two Meet-and-Greet sessions down, one to go! I have had a great time learning from the volunteers who participated in these sessions. The volunteers have a wealth of information on not only the program, but on things like how different organizations are connected to each other and what areas have active teams of volunteers and other partners. They also have great ideas on ways RiverWatch staff can help to move the program forward. I am definitely looking forward to getting to know more!
May 11, 2020: Citizen science has always been an important part of my life: in my spare time, as an inspiration for my dissertation, and now as a major part of my employment. I am looking forward to a set of three meetings that I'm hosting (on-line, of course) starting tomorrow. These Meet-and-Greet sessions are a first attempt at getting to know some of the citizen scientists in the Illinois RiverWatch Network and to let them know a bit about me. I've already had a few great phone calls and email exchanges with volunteers, but I'm hopeful that folks will keep their video feeds on so I can start putting names and faces together.
April 28, 2020: This afternoon, I gave a presentation that felt like a transition point for me. I returned (electronically) to the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center where I spent 7 years as a Restoration Ecologist to give a presentation on the road salt research that I just completed at Saint Louis University and share a bit about my new position at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. My audience was full of familiar, friendly faces of the volunteers and former co-workers who will always hold a special place in my heart.
April 14, 2020: Tomorrow afternoon, I will be participating in my very first e-conference. I had been looking forward to going to Austin, TX for the National Watershed and Stormwater Conference, but the City of Austin (like so many others) has limited events that have more than 50 participants. I am a little disappointed, but only because I'd been looking forward to the chance to share my research. I think they made the right decision.
The next day, April 16, I will officially begin working at NGRREC. Well, I'll begin working for NGRREC. I will be working from home until the building opens again after Covid. Hopefully it will only be a couple of months.
March 25, 2020: Yesterday was the day. After 5 years of challenges and successes, I defended my dissertation. Starting at 1:30, I presented from my home office to an audience of 80+ who tuned in to the live stream via Zoom. Afterwards, I received questions and comments on the presentation and my dissertation document from my committee members: Drs. Knouft, Camilo, Fowler-Finn, Hasenmueller, and Valone. By 4:00, it was decided; I passed!! While the celebrations are a bit muted for now, rest assured that I will be celebrating this summer.
March 17, 2020: Tonight I will be hosting (via Zoom) the first meeting of a small group of citizen scientists who are going to work with me to write a publication based on the chloride monitoring that we've been doing together since 2011. I don't know where this will end up, but I expect it to be a fantastic journey! And it is a great way for us to stay engaged while we all practice social distancing to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
March 11, 2020: Milestone Achieved!! Tonight I turned in my dissertation to my committee members!! This is one of the final steps toward earning my PhD.
February 20, 2020: Yesterday I had the opportunity to share information from my research on using brine to reduce chloride and road salt, this time with the members of the Deer Creek Community Leaders Task Force. This group brings together mayors, city managers, public works directors and other professionals with leadership roles within the Deer Creek watershed. People within this watershed have been working on revising their watershed plan to include both E. coli and chloride.
February 10, 2020: Last Friday, I was offered (and accepted) a position at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center!! My position will be Small Stream Ecologist and the Director of the Illinois RiverWatch program. This is an amazing opportunity, and I look forward to working with another group of citizen scientists who are motivated to protect their local streams!
January 6, 2020: There's nothing like starting the New Year right with another writing day at Tyson. I am so pleased to be included in this gathering of supportive, accomplished women!
* * * 2019 * * *
December 28, 2019: I hope everyone is having a wonderful winter break. Enjoy these last few days of 2019 - I look forward to an exciting 2020!!
December 12, 2019: I have spent this week in San Francisco at the AGU conference. I have met many wonderful researchers, several of whom I have been following on Twitter. This afternoon, I enjoyed discussing my research poster with many visitors, including one of my former interns from LREC!
December 5, 2019: Tonight is the annual Chloride Kickoff, an opportunity for those involved in chloride research and monitoring in the St. Louis area. We will gather and discuss our progress and future directions. I look forward to the kickoff every year as a chance to reconnect with the project partners, especially the citizen scientists (aka., Stream Team volunteers).
November 22, 2019: This afternoon I had the honor of speaking at the inaugural Biology Department Research Retreat. It was a distinct pleasure to share my work with my colleagues!
November 6, 2019: Today I had the pleasure of joining the wonderful staff at the Tyson Research Station for a writing retreat. Sometimes a change of venue can really boost your spirits, especially when the venue is so lovely!
November 1, 2019: It's official - I'm registered for AGU 2019! Hopefully I'll meet several more researchers whose work I've been reading.
October 17, 2019: One of the biggest challenges remaining in my current research is counting all of the invertebrates we've collected. Today marked the beginning of the development of a program that will use machine-learning to identify and count invertebrates!
September 21, 2019: The SLEEC retreat today was hosted by NGRREC and held at Lewis and Clark Community College. This annual event provides great opportunities to meet other local scientists and learn about the great work being done in the St. Louis region.
September 18, 2019: This morning I was notified that my manuscript was accepted by Environmental Science & Technology. This is the first scientific publication of my PhD work.
September 12, 2019: Another new undergraduate is joining the Knouft Lab; welcome, Karen!!
September 11, 2019: I presented my findings on the benefits of brine use to the MS4 (stormwater permit) managers and co-permittees of Madison County, Illinois this morning. They are a great group of folks who asked a lot of good questions.
September 7, 2019: A group of about 80 freshman Biology majors (mostly pre-med) came out to the Reis Biological Field Station to learn about some of the ecology and evolution research in the department. I worked with Dr. Mayden to show them the fish and invertebrates of Huzzah Creek. Many were very engaged and I think I might have steered a couple to consider the ecology side of bio!
August 29, 2019: Two undergrads will be joining me in the lab. Welcome to Alex and Maria!
August 22, 2019: A busy day with three post-worthy events:
(1) Today I helped researchers from the Great Rivers Field Station to haul in hoop nets of fish from the Mississippi River. Some of the nets were empty, but we made up for it with a couple of nets that totaled over 400 fish (mostly channel catfish and Asian carp). It was a fabulous day!
(2) I hit another milestone. This afternoon I pulled out my last datalogger, signaling the completion of all field work for my PhD.
(3) Tonight we had our 'Welcome back' picnic at Tower Grove Park for all of the grad students and faculty. Despite some rain to start the evening, the event went smoothly and I met some of the great new incoming grad students.
August 16, 2019: I am once again certified to provide CPR and use an AED. It is a set of skills I hope I never use, but better safe than sorry!
August 6, 2019: I hit a milestone! As of today, half of the invertebrate samples have been sorted!
August 2, 2019: The 2019 Aquatic GIS Workshop was great. The participants were really engaged in the material and asked great questions.
July 24, 2019: Lab-mate Megan is moving out to California. I will miss her!!
July 17, 2019: Today is the first day of the International GIS course. I look forward to working with the 25 or so Chinese students who will be in my lab learning to use ArcMap.
June 28, 2019: This afternoon I had a chance to talk road salt with Robert from Missouri Life magazine. The article won't come out for several months, but it should reach a rather broad audience.
June 21, 2019: Megan defended her thesis today and did such a great job!!!
June 17, 2019: Back to work after a too-short family vacation... Lots of jars of bugs have been waiting far too long for me to sort them.
May 26, 2019: Yesterday I was part of the first-place finishing 4-person team in the 72-mile South Dakota Kayak Challenge. Paddling on the Missouri River is so amazing! It is even better with a great set of teammates!!
May 17, 2019: I've submitted the first manuscript associated with my PhD. Fingers crossed!!
May 8, 2019: Last night I went out to 'Neighbor Nights' at NGRREC. It was interesting to hear Tony Dell talking about the microplastics work going on there.
April 26, 2019: This morning I enjoyed wandering around the SLU campus identifying plants and animals in iNaturalist for the City Nature Challenge. I'll be at St. Louis Earth Day tomorrow and will probably share more sightings then.
March 25, 2019: I'm on my way to Denver for the National Water Quality Monitoring Conference! This will be my first time presenting my stormwater chloride work to a non-St. Louis audience.
March 11, 2019: It may be the start of spring break, but I'm as busy as ever. I'll spend the week learning about Ignatian Pedagogy and participating in a series of writing retreats.
February 22, 2019: I got a random call this morning from Kevin Killeen from KMOX radio to interview me about streams and salt. An hour later, he was in my office recording a brief interview to cycle in with the news on Monday morning!
February 9, 2019: No opportunity to talk water quality is too small! This morning I met with two 4th grade girls along Deer Creek to talk with them about streams. Their dad met me at one of my presentations in the past several months and reached out to see if I could chat with them as part of a school project. It was freezing out, but they were totally into it! Such a great way to start a weekend!
January 24, 2019: I presented today to the American Public Works Association (St. Louis Chapter) regarding road salt (mostly my stormwater work). It was a packed crowd! They seemed interested in what I had to say and several approached me after to talk, including one woman from Illinois who wants me to speak to her MS4 group in the coming months. Opportunities abound!
January 15, 2019: Today will be my first day of teaching a class entirely of my own creation. I am very excited!!
January 11, 2019: Yesterday I took part in the 'Winter Institute,' an annual event by the Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning. This year, the topic was 'Teaching and Justice' - this very powerful set of presentations left me with a lot to think about!
January 7, 2019: Today I had the pleasure of hanging out at the Tyson Research Station for a writing workshop. This was an excellent opportunity to meet other local ecologists and make some progress on one of my manuscripts!
* * * 2018 * * *
December 18, 2018: This morning I had the opportunity to talk brine with the crews who do the salt spreading for the City of Webster Groves. It is great to connect with the people who are on-the-ground using the technology and techniques that I'm studying and writing about.
December 17, 2018: I may not have an office or lab at the moment, but SLU is very accommodating by offering a great 'SLU Summit for Water' today.
December 7, 2018: My experiment ended yesterday - not a moment too soon, because today is the 'BEB Packing Party.' All teaching labs as well as ecology labs and offices need to be set for the move by Wednesday. We've got some work to do!!!
November 29, 2018: Mayflies are snug in their study chambers. In one week, I'll know how they respond to salt and temperature.
November 21, 2018: There is no better way to get to know someone than sitting in an ice cold stream picking mayflies off of rocks (well, maybe there is...). Many thanks to Hogan and Cathleen for taking time the day before Thanksgiving to help me get ready for one last experiment before we move our lab out of the BEB!
November 19, 2018: Another new undergrad in the lab. Welcome Cathleen!!
November 9, 2018: Today for our department seminar, I'm hosting Dr. Leah Berkman from MDC. This will be one of the first non-academic presentations in the 3+ years I've been attending these seminars.
November 4, 2018: This week, two new undergrads start helping me out in the lab. Welcome Katie and Maria!!
October 23, 2018: I'm looking forward to tonight's "Full Moon Float" with Mike Clark of Big Muddy Adventures. I hear the food is excellent. [followup: the food was great, the company was even better!]
October 11, 2018: The Webster Groves High School AP Environmental Science class joined me on Deer Creek today for some water chemistry. They did a great job!
September 22, 2018: The SLEEC retreat today was great, with excellent talks and a fun barbecue.
September 21, 2018: PaddleMO is finishing up this weekend and I am looking forward to visiting with the paddlers and enjoying some music tonight at Sioux Passage Park.
August 31, 2018: Kevin's last day. I'll miss his sass and his skill. (The Blues are still better and someday they'll prove it!)
August 23, 2018: Today is my final public meeting on the stormwater work. The meeting in Furguson last week was not well attended, but the people who showed up were very interested.
August 2, 2018: Yesterday I held our first public meeting on the stormwater work - great turnout with lots of interested citizens and some great conversation!
July 31, 2018: Today I was interviewed by the phenomenal Jean Ponzi for her Earthworms Podcast. It was a great follow-up to the great workshop hosted yesterday by Washington University on brining with myself and co-presenter, Roland Biehl, of Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District!
January 25, 2023: Last week we held the world premiere of our short film, Mussel Grubbing: A Citizen Science Treasure Hunt. I am so thrilled with how the film turned out, and it has been so well-received!
April 18, 2022: I was honored to spend part of the evening on an e-roundtable discussion hosted by Senator Laura Ellman. Here's the video of the event in case you're interested.
February 24, 2022: A new publication is out!! After about a year of reading, writing and revising, a paper has been published that I co-wrote with three of the citizen scientists from the St. Louis chloride monitoring program. Find out more here: https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4594
July 1, 2020: I have finally been able to schedule a series of Open Lab events across Illinois for the RiverWatch volunteers. These sessions are opportunities for the trained volunteers to bring the invertebrates they've collected to look at them under a microscope. I'll be there to answer questions and help them identify troublesome critters. As an added bonus, these sessions held in July and August are the first chance I'll have to meet the citizen scientists of RiverWatch.
June 23, 2020: I've been having weekly Zoom meetings with three of the citizen scientists who worked with me on the road salt study in St. Louis. It has been a pleasure to discuss papers from the scientific literature with them. They share their observations and questions from the readings with the background and perspective of a seasoned scientist, but the joy and awe of a child making a new revelation. These conversations are inspirational to me and have helped me maintain my motivation in this era of social distancing. I look forward to these conversations each week!!
June 14, 2020: Today I participated in a training session that was a first for me. I got into a 32+ foot canoe with 9 other people and paddled 54 miles on the Missouri River. I've paddled on the Missouri River many times before, including a 100-mile journey from Hermann, MO to the confluence with the Mississippi River. The new part was that this was a training run for a challenging river race later this summer: the MR340. This race is a journey down the 340 miles of the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Charles.
So, what does this have to do with Aquatic Ecology, Road Salt, and Citizen Science? Actually, more than even I thought at first. The real question is what do these have in common? In their own ways, they all entail challenges, growth, and exploration. Rather than go into more depth here, keep an eye out for an forthcoming blog post...
May 16, 2020: Two Meet-and-Greet sessions down, one to go! I have had a great time learning from the volunteers who participated in these sessions. The volunteers have a wealth of information on not only the program, but on things like how different organizations are connected to each other and what areas have active teams of volunteers and other partners. They also have great ideas on ways RiverWatch staff can help to move the program forward. I am definitely looking forward to getting to know more!
May 11, 2020: Citizen science has always been an important part of my life: in my spare time, as an inspiration for my dissertation, and now as a major part of my employment. I am looking forward to a set of three meetings that I'm hosting (on-line, of course) starting tomorrow. These Meet-and-Greet sessions are a first attempt at getting to know some of the citizen scientists in the Illinois RiverWatch Network and to let them know a bit about me. I've already had a few great phone calls and email exchanges with volunteers, but I'm hopeful that folks will keep their video feeds on so I can start putting names and faces together.
April 28, 2020: This afternoon, I gave a presentation that felt like a transition point for me. I returned (electronically) to the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center where I spent 7 years as a Restoration Ecologist to give a presentation on the road salt research that I just completed at Saint Louis University and share a bit about my new position at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. My audience was full of familiar, friendly faces of the volunteers and former co-workers who will always hold a special place in my heart.
April 14, 2020: Tomorrow afternoon, I will be participating in my very first e-conference. I had been looking forward to going to Austin, TX for the National Watershed and Stormwater Conference, but the City of Austin (like so many others) has limited events that have more than 50 participants. I am a little disappointed, but only because I'd been looking forward to the chance to share my research. I think they made the right decision.
The next day, April 16, I will officially begin working at NGRREC. Well, I'll begin working for NGRREC. I will be working from home until the building opens again after Covid. Hopefully it will only be a couple of months.
March 25, 2020: Yesterday was the day. After 5 years of challenges and successes, I defended my dissertation. Starting at 1:30, I presented from my home office to an audience of 80+ who tuned in to the live stream via Zoom. Afterwards, I received questions and comments on the presentation and my dissertation document from my committee members: Drs. Knouft, Camilo, Fowler-Finn, Hasenmueller, and Valone. By 4:00, it was decided; I passed!! While the celebrations are a bit muted for now, rest assured that I will be celebrating this summer.
March 17, 2020: Tonight I will be hosting (via Zoom) the first meeting of a small group of citizen scientists who are going to work with me to write a publication based on the chloride monitoring that we've been doing together since 2011. I don't know where this will end up, but I expect it to be a fantastic journey! And it is a great way for us to stay engaged while we all practice social distancing to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
March 11, 2020: Milestone Achieved!! Tonight I turned in my dissertation to my committee members!! This is one of the final steps toward earning my PhD.
February 20, 2020: Yesterday I had the opportunity to share information from my research on using brine to reduce chloride and road salt, this time with the members of the Deer Creek Community Leaders Task Force. This group brings together mayors, city managers, public works directors and other professionals with leadership roles within the Deer Creek watershed. People within this watershed have been working on revising their watershed plan to include both E. coli and chloride.
February 10, 2020: Last Friday, I was offered (and accepted) a position at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center!! My position will be Small Stream Ecologist and the Director of the Illinois RiverWatch program. This is an amazing opportunity, and I look forward to working with another group of citizen scientists who are motivated to protect their local streams!
January 6, 2020: There's nothing like starting the New Year right with another writing day at Tyson. I am so pleased to be included in this gathering of supportive, accomplished women!
* * * 2019 * * *
December 28, 2019: I hope everyone is having a wonderful winter break. Enjoy these last few days of 2019 - I look forward to an exciting 2020!!
December 12, 2019: I have spent this week in San Francisco at the AGU conference. I have met many wonderful researchers, several of whom I have been following on Twitter. This afternoon, I enjoyed discussing my research poster with many visitors, including one of my former interns from LREC!
December 5, 2019: Tonight is the annual Chloride Kickoff, an opportunity for those involved in chloride research and monitoring in the St. Louis area. We will gather and discuss our progress and future directions. I look forward to the kickoff every year as a chance to reconnect with the project partners, especially the citizen scientists (aka., Stream Team volunteers).
November 22, 2019: This afternoon I had the honor of speaking at the inaugural Biology Department Research Retreat. It was a distinct pleasure to share my work with my colleagues!
November 6, 2019: Today I had the pleasure of joining the wonderful staff at the Tyson Research Station for a writing retreat. Sometimes a change of venue can really boost your spirits, especially when the venue is so lovely!
November 1, 2019: It's official - I'm registered for AGU 2019! Hopefully I'll meet several more researchers whose work I've been reading.
October 17, 2019: One of the biggest challenges remaining in my current research is counting all of the invertebrates we've collected. Today marked the beginning of the development of a program that will use machine-learning to identify and count invertebrates!
September 21, 2019: The SLEEC retreat today was hosted by NGRREC and held at Lewis and Clark Community College. This annual event provides great opportunities to meet other local scientists and learn about the great work being done in the St. Louis region.
September 18, 2019: This morning I was notified that my manuscript was accepted by Environmental Science & Technology. This is the first scientific publication of my PhD work.
September 12, 2019: Another new undergraduate is joining the Knouft Lab; welcome, Karen!!
September 11, 2019: I presented my findings on the benefits of brine use to the MS4 (stormwater permit) managers and co-permittees of Madison County, Illinois this morning. They are a great group of folks who asked a lot of good questions.
September 7, 2019: A group of about 80 freshman Biology majors (mostly pre-med) came out to the Reis Biological Field Station to learn about some of the ecology and evolution research in the department. I worked with Dr. Mayden to show them the fish and invertebrates of Huzzah Creek. Many were very engaged and I think I might have steered a couple to consider the ecology side of bio!
August 29, 2019: Two undergrads will be joining me in the lab. Welcome to Alex and Maria!
August 22, 2019: A busy day with three post-worthy events:
(1) Today I helped researchers from the Great Rivers Field Station to haul in hoop nets of fish from the Mississippi River. Some of the nets were empty, but we made up for it with a couple of nets that totaled over 400 fish (mostly channel catfish and Asian carp). It was a fabulous day!
(2) I hit another milestone. This afternoon I pulled out my last datalogger, signaling the completion of all field work for my PhD.
(3) Tonight we had our 'Welcome back' picnic at Tower Grove Park for all of the grad students and faculty. Despite some rain to start the evening, the event went smoothly and I met some of the great new incoming grad students.
August 16, 2019: I am once again certified to provide CPR and use an AED. It is a set of skills I hope I never use, but better safe than sorry!
August 6, 2019: I hit a milestone! As of today, half of the invertebrate samples have been sorted!
August 2, 2019: The 2019 Aquatic GIS Workshop was great. The participants were really engaged in the material and asked great questions.
July 24, 2019: Lab-mate Megan is moving out to California. I will miss her!!
July 17, 2019: Today is the first day of the International GIS course. I look forward to working with the 25 or so Chinese students who will be in my lab learning to use ArcMap.
June 28, 2019: This afternoon I had a chance to talk road salt with Robert from Missouri Life magazine. The article won't come out for several months, but it should reach a rather broad audience.
June 21, 2019: Megan defended her thesis today and did such a great job!!!
June 17, 2019: Back to work after a too-short family vacation... Lots of jars of bugs have been waiting far too long for me to sort them.
May 26, 2019: Yesterday I was part of the first-place finishing 4-person team in the 72-mile South Dakota Kayak Challenge. Paddling on the Missouri River is so amazing! It is even better with a great set of teammates!!
May 17, 2019: I've submitted the first manuscript associated with my PhD. Fingers crossed!!
May 8, 2019: Last night I went out to 'Neighbor Nights' at NGRREC. It was interesting to hear Tony Dell talking about the microplastics work going on there.
April 26, 2019: This morning I enjoyed wandering around the SLU campus identifying plants and animals in iNaturalist for the City Nature Challenge. I'll be at St. Louis Earth Day tomorrow and will probably share more sightings then.
March 25, 2019: I'm on my way to Denver for the National Water Quality Monitoring Conference! This will be my first time presenting my stormwater chloride work to a non-St. Louis audience.
March 11, 2019: It may be the start of spring break, but I'm as busy as ever. I'll spend the week learning about Ignatian Pedagogy and participating in a series of writing retreats.
February 22, 2019: I got a random call this morning from Kevin Killeen from KMOX radio to interview me about streams and salt. An hour later, he was in my office recording a brief interview to cycle in with the news on Monday morning!
February 9, 2019: No opportunity to talk water quality is too small! This morning I met with two 4th grade girls along Deer Creek to talk with them about streams. Their dad met me at one of my presentations in the past several months and reached out to see if I could chat with them as part of a school project. It was freezing out, but they were totally into it! Such a great way to start a weekend!
January 24, 2019: I presented today to the American Public Works Association (St. Louis Chapter) regarding road salt (mostly my stormwater work). It was a packed crowd! They seemed interested in what I had to say and several approached me after to talk, including one woman from Illinois who wants me to speak to her MS4 group in the coming months. Opportunities abound!
January 15, 2019: Today will be my first day of teaching a class entirely of my own creation. I am very excited!!
January 11, 2019: Yesterday I took part in the 'Winter Institute,' an annual event by the Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning. This year, the topic was 'Teaching and Justice' - this very powerful set of presentations left me with a lot to think about!
January 7, 2019: Today I had the pleasure of hanging out at the Tyson Research Station for a writing workshop. This was an excellent opportunity to meet other local ecologists and make some progress on one of my manuscripts!
* * * 2018 * * *
December 18, 2018: This morning I had the opportunity to talk brine with the crews who do the salt spreading for the City of Webster Groves. It is great to connect with the people who are on-the-ground using the technology and techniques that I'm studying and writing about.
December 17, 2018: I may not have an office or lab at the moment, but SLU is very accommodating by offering a great 'SLU Summit for Water' today.
December 7, 2018: My experiment ended yesterday - not a moment too soon, because today is the 'BEB Packing Party.' All teaching labs as well as ecology labs and offices need to be set for the move by Wednesday. We've got some work to do!!!
November 29, 2018: Mayflies are snug in their study chambers. In one week, I'll know how they respond to salt and temperature.
November 21, 2018: There is no better way to get to know someone than sitting in an ice cold stream picking mayflies off of rocks (well, maybe there is...). Many thanks to Hogan and Cathleen for taking time the day before Thanksgiving to help me get ready for one last experiment before we move our lab out of the BEB!
November 19, 2018: Another new undergrad in the lab. Welcome Cathleen!!
November 9, 2018: Today for our department seminar, I'm hosting Dr. Leah Berkman from MDC. This will be one of the first non-academic presentations in the 3+ years I've been attending these seminars.
November 4, 2018: This week, two new undergrads start helping me out in the lab. Welcome Katie and Maria!!
October 23, 2018: I'm looking forward to tonight's "Full Moon Float" with Mike Clark of Big Muddy Adventures. I hear the food is excellent. [followup: the food was great, the company was even better!]
October 11, 2018: The Webster Groves High School AP Environmental Science class joined me on Deer Creek today for some water chemistry. They did a great job!
September 22, 2018: The SLEEC retreat today was great, with excellent talks and a fun barbecue.
September 21, 2018: PaddleMO is finishing up this weekend and I am looking forward to visiting with the paddlers and enjoying some music tonight at Sioux Passage Park.
August 31, 2018: Kevin's last day. I'll miss his sass and his skill. (The Blues are still better and someday they'll prove it!)
August 23, 2018: Today is my final public meeting on the stormwater work. The meeting in Furguson last week was not well attended, but the people who showed up were very interested.
August 2, 2018: Yesterday I held our first public meeting on the stormwater work - great turnout with lots of interested citizens and some great conversation!
July 31, 2018: Today I was interviewed by the phenomenal Jean Ponzi for her Earthworms Podcast. It was a great follow-up to the great workshop hosted yesterday by Washington University on brining with myself and co-presenter, Roland Biehl, of Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District!
