Transcript CE 493: Civic Engagement - West Virginia University

Partner: Friends of Decker’s Creek
By: Keri Wilson
Reasons for taking the course:
-Wanted to gain valuable firsthand experience
working with a local community organization
-I wanted to volunteer my time to a business
while gaining valuable insight into a possible
career path.
I chose to work with Friends of Decker’s Creek
for my project because I am a Geology major
aiming for a career in the environmental
sector.
I wanted to learn about how grassroots
organizations are created and how they assist
communities.
-Perform Water Quality Monitoring
-Assisting in Community outreach
-Help Organize and Complete a major
community event
-Assist the Organization in with Office tasks
such as mailings
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Friends of Decker’s Creek is a small non-profit organization
located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The focus of the
organization is on the quality of water in the Decker’s Creek
Watershed.
The agency aims at increasing the quality of water in the
creek so that the community can use the water for recreation
and municipal purposes. They also strive to increase public
awareness of the state of the creek.
They watershed is negatively affected by abandoned mines,
commercial and industrial facilities, as well as solid waste
being dumped into the creek. The organization wants to
restore the watershed to the point where it is safe to swim in
and can sustain an aquatic habitat.
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The FODC was started in 1995 by a group of
outdoor enthusiasts. They organized trash
cleanups and water quality monitoring along
the creek.
In 1998, they began receiving grant money
from the DEP and NRCS to restore the
watershed. Starting in the year 2000, they
became an official nonprofit organization.
There first membership drive was in 2001.
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The mission of FODC is to improve the natural qualities of, increase
public concern for, and promote the enjoyment of the Deckers Creek
Watershed.
The FODC improves the natural qualities of the water through trash
cleanups and water quality monitoring. They search for sources of
acid mine drainage in order to formulate projects to alleviate acidity
in the stream.
They work towards increasing public concern by getting involved
with local government and business owners. They started the Clean
Creek Program in 2002, which pairs local businesses to sites along
the creek. There funding for these sites helps to monitor the quality
of creek in these specific areas.
The organization works towards promoting recreation along the
creek. The Decker’s creek adventure day is an annual event hosted
by the organization. It takes place along the creek and promotes
enjoyment of the trail and the watershed.
Educational Benefits:
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Working with FODC, I was able to study mineral content, pH,
dissolved oxygen, sediment and aquatic life in order to
assess water quality.
Community Benefits:
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I was able to impact the community by tabling and
encouraging involvement with FODC at the Mountainlair and
other local events
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Tabeling
I set up a booth at the farmers market on a Saturday morning. The purpose
of the booth was to try and encourage people to sign up teams for the FODC
adventure race as well as donate money to become an official Friend of
Decker’s Creek
Adventure Day
FODC adventure day is a adventure race and festival that will take place along Decker’s
and the Mon river rail trail system. I got the opportunity to help coordinate volunteers,
assist with tabling and recruiting teams for the event, as well as monitor the event event
on the trail and communicate with racers during the event
Sampling
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Water quality sampling involved traveling to different sites along Decker’s creek to assist
in taking measurement and recording data. The sites can be easily accessed from the
trail or in some cases are rather remote.
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Volunteering had an impact on my academic
growth because it gave me first hand experience
reaching out to local community members. I was
attempting to reach out to an audience that might
not necessarily care about the efforts of FODC.
The tabling experience was hard for me because it
required me to take that initial step in grabbing
people’s attention.
It helped me develop the ability to convince the
community why they should be concerned
personally about the organization and its cause
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Service learning will also assist me academically in
my geochemistry class.
I used my experience and the knowledge I have
gained from water quality monitoring to develop a
group project that is required for the class.
It helped me to gain a better understanding of the
factors that affect the pH, color, and percentage of
dissolved oxygen in the water.
This helped my overall understanding of water
chemistry and help me to succeed in the course.
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In the article, “How Service Learning Affects Students”, the authors
discussed the ways that service learning adds to the character and
academic experience of an undergraduate student post graduation.
They implemented a national study on how a service learning
project can help a student develop a better perception, appreciation,
and understanding of the service industry, as well as develop better
academic skills.
By taking part in a service learning project this semester I hoped
that I could increase my skills and character in a variety of ways.
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My geochemistry class is closely to my service project. We have focused on mainly on
carbonate water chemistry. At the beginning of the semester we got the chance to take a
field trip to Masontown, WV in order to take water samples. The purpose of the fieldtrip
was to study the water quality in a select portion of the Decker’s Creek Watershed. We
stopped at several locations in our study area to collect samples and evaluate the quality
of the water. We used monitoring equipment to assess the geochemistry of the water,
taking note of factors such as: temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved
oxygen, and oxidation-reduction potential. We also noted changes in the
geomorphology of the stream, such as: hydraulic gradient, bedrock formations, the
locations of geologic contacts, the presence, size and shape of loose material, and the
overall shape of the creek bed. Additionally, we identified tributaries and possible
sources of acid mine drainage to the stream.
In my geophysics course we took a fieldtrip to an area located on route 7 which follows
Decker’s creek. We did a geophysical survey on an old dump site owned by Greer
limestone. The purpose of the survey was to use electrical conductivity methods to
determine what was located in the shallow subsurface. Certain contaminants located in
ground water cause higher conductivity values which can be recognized in the survey.
There were several old settling ponds on the property which had previously been
treating surface runoff with limestone to decrease the acidity.
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The service learning experience has helped me to develop a greater
understanding of water chemistry.
It has also helped me to better understand how a non-profit organization is
run.
The service learning project with the FODC has definitely created a learning
environment different from any I have ever experienced.
The involvement within the community is probably the most exciting aspect
of the project. Working at the Decker’s Creek Adventure Race made me
realize how important it is for a community to be able to enjoy natural
features for recreational purposes.
I got to witness firsthand enjoyment of the community members while they
were interacting with the trail, the creek, and other racers.
For me, the goal of the organization feels full of purpose and optimistic
when the community is helping the cause.
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I will most definitely use the experiences from my project in the
future.
I have gained first hand experience with water quality monitoring
and would feel very confident in grad school to focus on monitoring
of a stream negatively affected by AMD.
I also feel more confident about educating the community about
stream restoration and the effects of AMD.
I just applied for an Americorp position as a watershed
development coordinator. The job involves educating and
encouraging community members to get involved in conservation.
I feel that my service with the FODC has given me good prep for a
job in community outreach.