Guest Post: University of Illinois Learning in Community Teams up with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant to Prevent Pollution

For University of Illinois students, getting a break from the ordinary, lecture-based class is as easy as enrolling in ENG 315: Learning in Community (LINC). The multi-section course offers a chance to team up with local nonprofits to design, plan, and implement new community-based projects. And this fall, students can spend the semester working with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant to reduce pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) pollution in Champaign-Urbana.

The IISG course will introduce students to the threats PPCPs pose to aquatic habitats and simple steps individuals can take to reduce those risks. Tours of local water quality labs will also provide a behind-the-scenes look at ongoing PPCP research. But the majority of the semester will be dedicated to designing and executing projects that help spread the word about proper disposal of unwanted medicines.

“This is a unique opportunity for students to apply what they are learning to help solve problems in sustainable ways,” said Terri Hallesy, IISG education coordinator. “They will gain real-world experiences while helping to boost awareness of a critical environmental issue and protect the health of our aquatic ecosystems.” 

Specific projects are still to be determined, and the class will have a lot of freedom to design outreach efforts that appeal to them. Previous classes mentored local high school students, wrote an article for a campus-based environmental magazine, and created outreach materials to be used at the McKinley Heath Center and at campus events. Other options include modifying K-12 curricula, designing social media campaigns, and even building a mobile app.  

Students will also be in charge of planning and orchestrating a single-day medicine takeback event at the end of the semester. The class will work throughout the semester to design a promotional plan and coordinate with campus housing and other organizations on campus.  

Its community focus and interdisciplinary approach make this course a perfect fit for a wide range of majors—from marketing to education to environmental sciences. Students will leave with new skills and experiences that move them closer to their career goals.  

LINC courses are offered through the College of Engineering and are open to all University of Illinois students. For fall 2014, students can choose between sections that address issues like water conservation, after-school safety, and homelessness. The IISG course will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:50 p.m. 

Contact Terri Hallesy for questions about the IISG course. To learn more about PPCP pollution and proper disposal, visit www.unwantedmeds.org.

More Water Job Resources

We’re taken a short break from our Water Jobs interviews, but don’t worry, we have lots of subjects lined up for your edification in coming months. If you just can’t bear the wait and know that water is a great field to be researching, here are a few sites that provide additional interviews and resources. 

Although we might not like to admit this, Illinois doesn’t actually host every type of water job in the world. For example, we don’t have any oceans to draw oceanographers. To cover this lapse in geography and occupation, we point you to Sea Grant’s Marine Careers website. Of course, several of our coworkers (based in both Illinois and Indiana) are featured on this site, but there are also interviews with many marine biologists, ocean mappers, marine geophysicists, and many, many other careers, some of which we didn’t know existed. In addition to the interviews, the site provides listings about possible salaries in marine careers, frequently asked questions, and lots of information about schools, majors, and internships.

Another site we enjoy is EngineerJobs.com. While we get very distracted by many of the other articles, including reasons why you'd kill yourself with a Lightsaber, they also run a great feature titled: So you want my job? Thus far the series has boasted such highlights as a civil engineer, a preservation engineer, and a marine engineer. In addition to job profiles, the site also includes a lot of job hunting and career advice that we, in spite of being non-engineers, found very useful. Be warned, though. If you are remotely nerdy, this site is a huge time-sucker, in a good way.

Finally, if you’re interested in water supply and wastewater treatment, we recommend checking out Work for Water. A joint project between the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation, Work for Water is a massive clearinghouse for all water industry related career details. Information in available about everything from graduate school to career opportunities for veterans to community college programs in environmental engineering, and there are lots of interviews, scholarships, and fellowship opportunities, too.

And finally, if you want the opportunity to actually talk to people working in water, you should probably attend Illinois Water 2014. Not only will we host a career panel, but we also offer student scholarships to help you get there.

It's Time to Submit Abstracts for Water 2014!

We are excited to announce that we are now accepting abstracts for the 2014 Illinois Water Conference, held Oct. 14-15 at the Illini Union on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. To submit an abstract for an oral presentation or student poster, complete the appropriate online form by Monday, May 5. You will be notified regarding the status of your abstract by June 2.

Session Topics
The majority of accepted abstracts will fit within one of the session topics listed below. However, you may submit under the Open Topic category, from which we will develop one or two additional sessions. Student posters are requested as general submissions.  a

• Application of statistical and machine learning methods in hydrology
• Biomass crops to enhance water quality
• Critical zone observatory research
• Effects of climate and land use changes on Illinois water resources
• Floodplains: recent developments in science, management and restoration
• Global challenges and opportunities at the boundaries of water and sanitation research
• Illinois regional water supply planning
• Monitoring to modeling (TMDLs)
• Protecting water quality and addressing flooding on multiple fronts in Cook County
• Resolving chronic problems with landfills and waste fills
• State of Lake Michigan
• Stream restoration
• The energy implications of resource recovery in wastewater treatment
• Water for energy: power generation, fracking, and more

Conference Format
Sessions will be scheduled concurrently in 90-minute periods. Each session will include 4-5 presentations running 12 minutes each, with an additional six minutes for questions and discussions after each presentation.

Student posters will be presented and judged during the evening reception on Oct. 14.

Student Scholarships

Scholarships are available for students interested sharing a poster. To apply, complete the scholarship application form by Aug. 29.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.

Legislative Catch-ups

We haven’t run a legislative update in a long time! To make up for our lapse, here’s a long list of some what’s going on in the Illinois General Assembly this spring session. 

Water Pollution Control Loan

HB 4382

Synopsis:

• An amendment to the Environmental Protection Act
• Removes a provision requiring a local 30% match for total project cost for projects funded through grants
• Allows the IEPA to provide financial assistance for any project eligible for assistance under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

Status:

• Introduced January 29, 2014
• Placed on the House calendar for a second reading on March 26, 2014

Coal and Coke Regulation
HB 5939

Synopsis:

• Is an amendment to the Environmental Protection Act
• Regulates the storage, processing, and transloading of coal and coke
• Requires minimum setbacks for coal and coke facilities (5,000 feet for the property line of a residence, childcare service, school, etc.)
• Sets limits for fugitive dust from facilities
• Requires permits for construction and operations of facilities
• Regulates the loading, unloading, paving, and cleaning of facilities
• Requires monitoring, recording keeping, and reporting to the IEPA

Status:

• Introduced February 14, 2014
• Assigned to the House Environment Committee in early March
• Currently accumulating lots of co-sponsors

Nuisance Organisms

HB 5869

Synopsis:

• An amendment to the Fish and Aquatic Life Code
• Any individual who knowingly imports any nuisance organisms into Illinois is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor or a fine not exceeding $1,500 per organisms imported, maximum fine not to exceed $25,000
• Nuisance organisms are nonnative aquatic organisms that could alter or threaten the ecosystem or native or naturalized fish and other organisms

Status:

• Introduced February 14, 2014
• Currently a floor amendment has kicked it back to the Rules Committee

Anything related to the Fox Waterway

Since the Fox Waterway seems to be stirring a lot of discussion in the General Assembly, we grouped all these measures together.

SB 2696

Synopsis:

• Dissolves the Fox Waterway Agency Act
• Dissolves the Fox Waterway Agency
• Assigns assets and property to the Department of Natural Resources
• Status:
• Introduced January 28, 2014
• Second reading was added to the Senate calendar on March 26, 2014

HR 0934

Synopsis:

• Declares the House’s opposition to SB 2629

Status:

• Introduced March 20, 2014
• Adding co-sponsors at the moment

SB 2732

Synopsis:

• Amendment to the Fox Waterway Agency Act
• If any dredging or restoration work is done on the channel using public funds, then the water in the channel remains a public waterway open and accessible to the public
• If only private funds are used for dredging and maintenance, then property owners adjacent to the channel have the right to close the channel to public access, so long as the closing is posted

Status:

• Introduced and referred to Assignments January 28, 2014

Illinois Water 2014 Call for Sessions

As the snow melts and it seems like spring may someday arrive, it’s also time to start planning for our biennial Water Conference. Illinois Water 2014 is scheduled for this October 14 and 15 at the University of Illinois’s Illini Union. We have exciting plans for plenaries, student poster sessions, and a water careers panel, but we need your help to create an engaging and timely lineup of sessions and speakers. If you have a research project or concept you’ve been developing and you’d like an opportunity to present and discuss it with your peers, we invite you to submit a session proposal. We’ll be accepting proposals until March 28. Please see the Water 2014 website for more information on how to submit a session proposal or for help in developing your ideas.

Photo by Anjanette Riley