Service-Learning Blog

Water Sampling with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper

by tle148

This past Thursday morning/afternoon I met with my community organization partner and we spent majority of the time collecting water samples from areas of the river that showed alarming levels of E. Coli. To pinpoint the exact location of the issue, we strategically collected water samples from specific points along the river for better judgement and analysis. Collecting the water samples was a fun experience as you get very hands on with nature. It was kind of silly as we would park on the side of the road and quickly collect water samples as cars drove by probably wondering what was going on. This organization also works with residents who reside along the Chattahoochee river and the volunteers collect their own water samples from their backyard or nearby, and come to drop it off at the office for testing. Walking around neighborhoods allowed me to appreciate the river and its beauty as this is not something I typically think about when I walk or drive through areas. Walking by the river allowed me to find joy even in the simplest things. Instead of being in the car driving across a bridge, I walked across a bridge and got to see a part of the river flow naturally. Of course it is nature just doing its thing, but its refreshing to be able to appreciate nature in its entirety and with my own eyes.

Recently, the R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Center, which is a wastewater treatment facility that caters to most of Atlanta, had an issue at their plant causing the release of contaminated wastewater into the river causing the E. Coli levels to rise dramatically. It was discovered that a majority of their plant is not functional and is not treating all the incoming sewage water and thereby having to release it back into the river. I didn’t hear about this incident until I heard from the organization and it is quite alarming since I too live close to the river. Articles online advised communities to avoid river contact downstream of the sewage spill but it worries me of those who don’t have easy access to this information. I would not have known had I not spoke with this organization. Next time, I’ll be documenting about trash cleanups.

Blog Post #5

by kmelton6

Hello, everyone on the blog post. Since this is my first post, I will introduce myself. My name is Kaden Melton and I was partnered with the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, along with Kayla. For the past couple of weeks, our main objective has been completing a weather station for the preserve. As part of our community project, we built a wooden weather station that would measure various aspects of the environment, such as rain level, humidity, temperature, and CO2, in two different ecosystems, allowing us to compare them to each other and their potential effect against climate change. 

To build this weather station, we went through various phases. The first and easiest phase was planning the design and layout of the station. We completed this in under 20 minutes and decided that we would make a station with a front-facing sign and a shelf on top to hold some of the measuring instruments. The face of the sign would also contain descriptions of the purpose of the various instruments attached to the station, as well as both the GSU and Blue Heron Nature Preserve logos. The second phase of the project was to build it. I was responsible for actually assembling the structure, so I went stumbling around Home Depot trying to find the right type of wood and screws to buy. After getting the proper materials, I went home and assembled the structure. After finishing the structure, I gave it to Kayla to paint the sign, including writing the descriptions and painting the logos. Once the signs were finished, we returned to our partner next week to put the stakes on the station and put them in the ground, but we ran into difficulties. 

We didn’t have the proper tools to drill the screws into the stakes, resulting in the screws getting excessively hot and starting to smoke, eventually leading to the drill dying on us completely. Since we could not finish the signs that day, I took the signs and the stakes home and finished them over the weekend. We came back the following week, aka this week, and we were able to successfully install the stations in the ground and take our first measurements. After all the time we invested into the stations, finally being able to successfully install them was an extremely satisfying feeling, and I’m excited to begin the other half of our project.

Blog Post #4

by dspall1

Throughout the experiences with Dunwoody Nature Center, I feel like this week was the most hectic and fun I’ve had yet with the amount of tasks that I completed. The last few weeks have essentially just been very chill, but this week was exciting because I got to help prepare for the Fairytale forest festival. The nature center hosted this festival to showcase many fun and exciting events that can be educational for children while also allowing them to play around and show of their creativity. There were many things to do such as tree climbing, painting, coloring, and so much more. Before the festival, I got to work with the center to digitally create signs that showcased an aspect of the forest that would be educational for children. The ones I worked on were the backyard birds station and the forest habitat station. My volunteer partner, Raihannah worked on the wetlands station. I feel like the experience of getting to digitally create these signs was particularly exciting for me as I enjoy practicing any aspect of digital design. Because of the amount of work I’ve had, I hadn’t had the opportunity to do it until now, and I’m extremely thankful because it’s inspired me to get back in touch with my passion for graphic design. Moving on, I’m enjoying my time at the nature center because it’s also allowed me to get in touch with my surroundings and start exploring the outdoors more in my free time. I often find myself going on walks throughout the nature center’s park and admiring the nature around me. More-so, I’ve been able to prepare for the festival through tasks that require me to pick leaves for children’s projects. While volunteering, I’ve had the opportunity to learn about what these creative projects are meant to teach children. I’ve learned about how creativity can go hand in hand with education. The nature center thrives to allow children to showcase their creativity while also learning about the nature that constantly surrounds them. Stations where children can paint bird houses serve as a way to showcase their creativity while also giving back to the world little by little.

Blog Post #4 – Chattahoochee Riverkeeper

by serickson11

        Hi everyone! This is my first official blog post so I have a good amount of time to recap but I mostly want to focus on what has occurred in the last two-ish weeks. The biggest thing so far has definitely been the annual Sweep the Hooch event that Mina and I attended on Saturday, March 23rd. There were over 64 sites cleaned, Mina and I went to the Murphey Candler Park one from 9am to 12pm and we got very lucky because we had beautiful weather (the photo is from one of the trails we cleaned up). 

        We mostly stayed on land due to not having proper waders but we still worked our tails off collecting all of the tiny trash that would have washed into the water eventually if not picked up. In total, on Saturday there were 46 volunteers including ourselves at our location and we managed to collect 1530 lbs of trash, 380 lbs of recycling and 5 tires (a pretty impressive amount if I do say so myself). The biggest takeaways I had from this was how easy it was to do a little good for this earth by spending some easy hours collecting trash and that Double Bubble desperately needs to make their packing biodegradable because I picked up so many of those little wrappers to the point I almost went insane. 

         Before this Saturday, I had been going to Chattahoochee Riverkeeper on Fridays to help with trash collection from the trash traps and conducting ETAPs (essentially a forensic litter audit using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Escaped Trash Assessment Protocol—in simple terms it is just categorizing what was collected into subcategories like take-out boxes, shopping bags, water bottles, etc. and marking brands that show up repeatedly). In this process they also collect water samples to do tests for high levels of anything dangerous in the water. A major situation unfolded while I was there on the 15th when CRK detected dangerously high levels of E. coli in the Chattahoochee River downstream from the R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Center. There was a big problem with how the AJC was reporting it and spreading misinformation about how long those high levels had been detected and CRK had to make public statements suggesting staying out of the water and requesting that a more factual timeline be displayed to the public. Jordan Yu (CRK Watershed Protection Specialist), Mina and I actually went to the Water Reclamation Center to get a sample from where the water was going into the river (big big big shoutout to Mina for sacrificing herself by getting in full gear to get close to the splashing sewer water). When we got back news stations were there to talk to CRK and Mina and I went inside to thoroughly cleanse ourselves from the nasty water. 

         So far, I have really enjoyed having this opportunity to work with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and could definitely see myself participating in their local events after this class ends based on the good time I had at the Sweep the Hooch event. 

Dunwoody Nature Center and Environmental Education

by rmuslim1

The Dunwoody Nature Center focuses on educating the public about nature and encouraging environmental stewardship. On my first volunteer day, I was told to follow a group of students on their school field trip. At first, I was disappointed by this because I thought it would be boring. I imagined that school field trips were not that insightful for kids or adults, nonetheless. Claire, a volunteer from a high school, seemed excited at this prospect. Her enthusiasm about the field trip made me wonder if it would be worth it after all.

Contrary to my preconceived notions, school field trips are fun and educational. The field trip was split up into an indoor portion, where the kids were introduced to animal furs, an owl’s wing, and a live snake to learn about animal groups, and an outdoor portion where the kids were shown a live toad and tadpoles and learned about watersheds. It was interesting to see how easily they got excited about the live animals. When the instructor showed them the tadpoles and toad, they huddled around him in awe. The funniest thing about the experience was their reaction to the animal furs and the owl wing because the kids were concerned that the instructor had just stolen the fur and wing from the animals to teach the course. At some point the instructor had to clarify that “no animals were harmed in the making of this program”.

That field trip is a highlight of my experience with Dunwoody Nature Center. I thought it was nice that the kids were learning about watersheds because I only recently learned about them in another seminar. The Dunwoody Nature Center has a variety of programs that enable children and adults to interact with nature. Through these programs they promote environmental awareness and stewardship. Recently we have been preparing for the Fairytale Forest Festival which takes place this weekend. As the name suggests, this festival incorporates interactions with nature and fairytales.

I am developing my project with Dua. Our experience with the Dunwoody Nature Center has inspired us to create a product that focuses on environmental education. Some ideas that we have discussed so far include infographics, a website, and a survey. I recently spoke with Dr. Finck about developing a short survey for festival attendees for feedback on the educational aspect of the festival. We might also make a broader survey that addresses environmental education in general. This one will be longer and target individuals at 40 years and under.

 

Service Blog Post #3

by mpham29

On the second day, Mr. Yu was giving a talk about recycling for the 7th graders. It was also raining heavily, so we did not do any litter cleaning. However, I learned about how water sampling works. The “unclean” sample will turn yellow. Some samples did not turn yellow but fluorescence as they were put under UV light. It was fascinating to see the correlation between the distance of the spillage and the number of fluorescence samples. This method was one step in tracking the spillage sites that actively harm our water source. Next, Mr. Yu brought Sydney and me to more trash trap sites, and we saw a $175,000 trash trap owned by the city of Atlanta.

He said that one day, we might clean up that trap. Mr. Yu also showed us a site where they still use the combined sewage/water system. He said it was crucial to keep this river safe for the safety of the people in the area, especially the students from the school right next to the trash trap. The most exciting aspect of my service with Chattahoochee River is the knowledge I retained from many people with different specialties in every session. They had scientists who worked on the water samplings and littering tracking. They also had people who work mainly on social media and fundraising. Volunteering with them helps me realize how much impact a person can make towards “cleaning” our environment.

After getting back to the office, we sometimes discussed the final project for the course. Mr. Yu let us freely decide on the topic that we want to do. He also provided us with data links that might contain the number needed for our presentation. We might take some time to review the data, come up with an overview, and briefly talk about recycling and littering. One of the aspects that leads us to this thought might be coming from the fact that we would visit different sites along the Chattahoochee River and collect litter. We calculated the amount of trash collected for each site into various categories. Therefore, we might be able to figure out a relationship between some of the factors.

Update #1

by svarghese5

Hi Everyone! Today, I began my volunteering projects with the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS). It did and did not meet my expectations of what I thought volunteering with GNPS would be like. 

At 10 in the morning, I got to volunteer at the Stone Mountain Propagation Project (SMPP). Located behind the parking lot of Stone Mountain is a place filled with rows of pots of native plants that were being nurtured. There, I got to work separating native plants into gallon-sized pots they could grow in. The work taught me that gardening can require sawing apart the soil sometimes. I also learned to pot plants, which I have not done before. While volunteering at SMPP, I also got to meet other volunteers. Most of them were retired and their professions ranged from being a microbiologist at CDC to being in IT, but they all had a passion for gardening. Their level of knowledge in gardening also surprised me because it was not a part of their profession before. From them, I learned interesting things like insects can secrete chemicals that cause a specific plant (I can’t remember the name) to change its growth pattern to protect the insect’s egg; the effect on the plant also depends on the insect. 

At 2 in the afternoon, I volunteered at Mary Scott Nature Park. I would pass by this park every day on my way to my high school, but I never visited it. At Mary Scott, I got to do what I had originally expected to do when partnering with GNPS: dig out invasive species of plants and promote the growth of native plants. I got to remove invasive plants from the ground, allowing the native plants to grow better. There, I got to meet Susan and Marty. They showed me the different plants that were invasive and native. I would follow Marty around and from her, I learned how to separate the “bad guys” and “good guys”. I would point out and help her remove the “bad guys”. The digging up of invasive plants mainly occurred near the parking lot at the entrance. This is because this is the site many people visit first. If visitors saw an invasive species growing at the park, they would assume that those same plants were suitable to buy from a store and to grow in their backyard. To avoid this, once a month volunteers would dig up and trash invasive plants to both promote native plants to visitors and to also allow the native plants to grow without competition. 

In both these opportunities, the volunteers were very welcoming and would help me learn about Georgia plant life. I learned about their interesting and various backgrounds while they learned about mine. Volunteering with GNPS has started on a fun note and I hope that it continues like so. 

I am excited about my future opportunities with GNPS!

Service Blog Post #2

by mpham29

Hi everyone, I am Mina Pham. My community partner is Chattahoochee River, a non-profit organization working to reduce the amount of litter from different regions of the Chattahoochee River. Mr. Jordan Yu, Watershed Protection Specialist, is the person that I will be working with. His work involves a variety of duties, including litter cleanup and analysis, water sampling, pollution tracking, speaking events, workshops, and social media.

On the first day, I was introduced to the office and the laboratory section, where we could look at water samples and analyze the number of bacteria and microplastics. After that, Jordan, Jullian, and I prepared the equipment and protective clothing, and then we headed out to the first site to check the trash trap and clean it up. They cleaned the trash trap since it was the first day of the week. We headed to the furthest north site, Chamblee and Doraville. This site experienced sewage spillage a couple of months ago; therefore, we must be cautious about not letting any liquid get on our skin and clothes.

One of the most exciting works that I got to experience during the first day was learning more about how the organization works and how they set up different trash traps around the metro Atlanta city. Everyone was amiable, and I discovered a lot about their previous studies in the past few years about how they track down the source of littering by collecting multiple samples at different sites. Working under the water and exposing yourself to an aquatic environment, you might come in contact with small animals like spiders, mice, and water snakes. It is something that you cannot avoid. One of my most challenging works was climbing different cliffs to access the trash traps. Fun fact: one of my boots fell out as I tried to climb up. One surprising thing was how much trash we collected for each site was different, even when they had the same flow. For example, the site in Doraville was filled with Styrofoam and plastic bottles, while the site in Buckhead was filled with mud and only had plastic bottles.

Blog Post 2- Getting Started

by khira1

Kaden and I visited the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in person on Thursday to meet with Denise, the operations director of the preserve, as well as some of the team like Melody the executive director. Denise was very lovely and talked to us about our goals and why we wanted to choose Blue Heron as our main service organization, which was to help volunteer and give back to the community as well as expand our knowledge about environmental conservation. My main goal and aspiration is hopefully to continue to work with the organization a couple of times in the summer if I have the time, to fully grasp all aspects of environmental organizations and to help push knowledge about the environment. We talked about the different types of environments that Blue Heron has to offer, with riparian, meadows, wetlands, and woodlands, and how each of them combine to make Blue Heron a hidden spot in the heart of Buckhead. Melody and Denise both touched on how they wanted to expand and push the knowledge of Blue Heron onto different levels of generations to come and observe and travel through different parts of nature right in the city. We went on a walk throughout part of the woodlands and riparians, to see the different environmental works they have been preserving and planting, especially native plant species. Denise talked about the importance of native planting and preservation because of invasive species invading Georgia. One of the most prevalent we saw on our walk was the English Ivy, which crowds an abundance of trees and lower plants, cutting off their ability to have vital nutrients from the soil. For one of the weeks, we will be cutting down and removing some of the English Ivy in hopes of preventing further spread of the plant. One of the most interesting things was the information about the riparian, with the addition of two creeks, the Nancy and Mill Creek, which run through the preserve. Finding out about riparians, which I had no clue what they were before, was very interesting. This was brought into one of the service project ideas about having weathering stations to track various aspects of temperature and rainfall was an idea that we are hoping to fulfill for each part of the 4 areas of Blue Heron. All in all, I am very excited to see what kinds of things we are going to do in the upcoming weeks for the preserve and how that will tie into spreading awareness and helping Blue Heron. 

 
 

These are some pictures from our walk!

Blog Post #2 Dua Spall

by dspall1

On Thursday, the 25th, I visited Dunwoody Nature Center for the first time to meet my organization and learn about my upcoming responsibilities. As mentioned in my introduction, I was surprised by the breathtaking beauty of the park upon my arrival. While I had an idea of  a simple building and a walking trail, the reality exceeded my expectations with its calming, aesthetic, and scenic environment. Although specific tasks have not yet been assigned to me, I have gained insight into the diverse and exciting projects I will soon get to work on. 

These projects include a range of activities, including tasks within the park, interactions with various animals, and involvement in marketing and social media for the organization. Of these, I am eager to engage in ground projects, as the park’s beauty is very exciting, and I am excited to explore it firsthand.

One aspect of my role that I find somewhat challenging is working with children. As the youngest in my family, I have limited experience in caring for or spending around children. However, I am both excited and nervous about the opportunity to learn about teaching children and participating in projects involving them, as I believe it will be a valuable learning experience.

During my visit to the nature center on Thursday, I was happy to learn that I would be attending a program featuring live animals. I had the chance to interact with a live snake and turtle, an experience that had me very surprised yet excited, considering it was only my first day. Through this hands-on encounter, I learned about the habits and habitats of snakes and turtles, gaining valuable information into their roles within our environment.

This initial experience has left me even more excited for the future. In just one day, I have had the opportunity to meet incredible people, learn interesting facts about animals, and connect myself with the nature of the park. I am eager to continue with this organization and learn more about what it has to offer. I hope to apply these valuable lessons in the real world and teach it to others curious about how they can help and connect with nature.