News from CEED

Michelle Logut '04 left her mark on Meadville before she graduated. For her Senior Project, Logut wrote a grant and designed an urban park for the Meadville Medical Center (MMC). As a result of her efforts, MMC received $28,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to turn a blighted two-acre parcel of land into an aesthetically pleasing greenspace. The Community Conservation Partnerships Program issued the grant.

The project will restore and improve a section of Mill Run, creating an area of recreation and relaxation for the Meadville community. The project includes removing invasive plant species, adding native plant species, and grading the banks of Mill Run. "The work she did on the grant was outstanding," says Andy Masse of MMC, who worked closely with Logut throughout the process. "She obtained letters of support from a wide variety of political and environmental groups."

In addition, Logut created two different design plans for the park. Both designs incorporate a paved and lighted pathway, benches, a gazebo, park entrance signs, an outdoor physical therapy area, and a bridge over the stream.

According to Masse, MMC hopes to begin work this summer. The MMC will be taking donations to fund Phase II of the project.

This is not the first time MMC and CEED have partnered. MMC collaborates with the Meadville Community Energy Project as part of Partnership for Energy Performance, an energy management program.

To follow the progress and see detailed plans and designs, log on to Logut's Web site: here.

Record Numbers Attend Creek Connections Symposia
by Nicole Mason, Creek Connections Project Coordinator

Young watershed aficionados crammed two locations on consecutive Fridays in April to cap off yearlong studies of their local waterways at the Creek Connections Student Research Symposia.

Approximately 600 students, teachers, and environmental professionals filled the New Dining Hall at YMCA Camp Kon-O-Kwee/Spencer in Fombell on April 16 for the Pittsburgh-area symposium. Representing twenty schools, students presented 120 poster displays and seven speeches on topics ranging from "Beetle Mania," "Ugly Bugs" and an "Alphabet Book of Creek Connections" to "E. coli Analysis of Girty's Run" and "How Stoneflies Live Together."

These students' counterparts in northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York had their chance to celebrate their creek explorations on April 23 at Allegheny College's Campus Center. Participation numbers at this event topped 700, including over 550 students.

One "creeker" reported that he had never had an interest in watersheds until this year, speaking to the power of Creek Connections to mold environmental stewards for the challenges facing our waterways.