Randolph professor explains environmental impact of local train derailment and oil spill

On Wednesday, a train derailed several miles from Randolph College, sending three cars carrying crude oil into the James River. When local media began reporting on the environmental impacts of the resulting oil spill, they asked Sarah Lawson, a Randolph environmental studies and physics professor, to explain what could happen.

On Thursday, Lawson appeared on a live WSET noon newscast to talk about how the spilled oil could affect the waterways and wildlife. Later, she helped reporters at the News & Advance explain the potential long-lasting consequences of the oil spill. Her comments are included in the sidebar on this article.

Summer Research student examines Blackwater Creek health

For 10 years, Randolph College students have been testing the health of Blackwater Creek, a tributary of the James River flowing through Lynchburg. This summer, Kavya Pradhan ’14 will analyze all of the test results and decipher what that data says about the waterway.

“We have 10 years’ worth of data, but we didn’t have anyone analyzing it,” Pradhan said. “I want to know whether we have recorded any trends.”

Kavya Pradhan ’14, right, and Galen Shen, a high school student assisting
with the project, take water samples from Blackwater Creek in Lynchburg.

Karin Warren, the Herzog Family Chair of Environmental Studies, began teaching her students how to test water quality in 2003, shortly after she began her position at the College. She still assigns students in her beginning environmental studies classes to take water samples each fall, with more advanced students serving as project leaders. They examine the stream’s physical and chemical characteristics, as well as the volume of insects, worms, and other small organisms that can be found in samples. “We’ve had well over 300 students who have worked on this project over the last decade,” Warren said.

A few years after Warren’s students began testing the waters, Lynchburg began efforts aimed at improving Blackwater Creek. Those efforts have included sewer system upgrades designed to stop sewer lines from overflowing into the creek during storms, as well as erosion control programs. By analyzing test results from before the work began to more recent data, Pradhan hopes to measure the impact that the improvement efforts have had.

“It’s really essential to see whether or not a type of remedial action is having an effect,” Pradhan said. “You might be spending millions of dollars on it without improving it.”

Ludovic Lemaitre ’11, sustainability coordinator, Sarah Lawson, an  environmental science
and physics professor, Karin Warren, the Herzog Family Chair of Environmental Studies,
 and Mimansha Joshi ’14 look for tiny organisms in leaves pulled from Blackwater Creek.

In addition to analyzing test results from previous years, Pradhan is collecting new information. On Monday, she led a group on a testing expedition on a section of the creek not far from the College. They spent a few hours collecting water samples, counting creatures found in the mud, and running other tests. It was a welcome break from more mundane data analysis.

“That’s what’s great about this project. I can stay inside and work on the computer going over the data sheets. But I can also go out and get into the stream,” Pradhan said. “It might be frustrating to get down the steep bank to the creek, but when you get down there you can look around and it’s really pretty.”

The project was featured in a story by a local television station on Monday. Read the WDBJ-7 story here.

Randolph students present at energy and sustainability conference

A recent statewide energy and sustainability conference included presentations by Randolph students that gave insight into ways to save energy.

Karin Warren, environmental studies professor and the Herzog Family Chair of Environmental Studies, took a group of students to the Virginia Commonwealth University Energy and Sustainability Conference. More than 600 students and professionals in fields related to energy, sustainability, and the environment were present. Randolph was the only liberal arts college with students giving presentations, Warren said.

Adam Eller ’13 presented the results of a research project he conducted with Brooke Edwards ’13 and Lauren Dees ’13. Their project, “Thermal Mass Artwork,” examined the possibility of using a sculpture to absorb heat from the sun. This helps to cool a home during a summer day or release heat to warm a home on a winter night.

Eller demonstrated this concept with a clay sculpture he made. The sculpture features the face of a native American and a village with homes and walls made of clay, honoring the fact that some native American villages made use of had a similar cooling and heating effect.

Ire Adeleye ’14 and Luisa Poveda ’13 presented a video about The Red Door, a student-run coffee shop that uses sustainable practices, serving fair-trade coffee and hot chocolate and encouraging customers to bring their own mugs.

Rick Barnes blogs from Semester at Sea

Rick Barnes, professor of psychology and environmental studies, is spending
the fall 2010 semester teaching aboard a ship as it cruises around the world.

Barnes is teaching two courses, Environmental Psychology and Sustainable Communities, with Semester at Sea. Special guest on the Fall 2010 voyage is Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The ship visits 11 ports in Africa and Asia...

• Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Cadiz, Spain
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Takoradi, Ghana
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Port Louis, Mauritius
• Chennai, India
• Singapore
• Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
• Hong Kong / Shanghai, China
• Yokohama / Kobe, Japan
• Honolulu / Hilo, Hawaii, USA
• San Diego, California, USA

Follow Professor Barnes' journey on his blog...
http://ricksemsea.blogspot.com/

About Semester at Sea
Semester at Sea (SAS) is a study abroad program founded in 1963, now managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education in Charlottesville, Virginia. The University of Virginia's the current academic sponsor for the program while the program, itself, is run on a cruise ship called the MV Explorer. Throughout the history of the program, nearly 50,000 undergraduate students from more than one thousand colleges and universities have participated in Semester at Sea.

Green Businessman Ray Anderson to Visit Randolph

Radical industrialist Ray Anderson will speak at Randolph College on Monday, February 1, 2010 in Smith Hall Auditorium. A book signing follows in the Ribble Lounge of Smith Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

During his visit, he will also meet privately with environmental studies majors, student leaders and faculty to discuss environmental issues and his quest to create a sustainable manufacturing company.

Anderson is the founder and chairman of Interface, Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet for commercial and residential applications and a leading producer of commercial broadloom and commercial fabrics. He is “known in environmental circles for his advanced and progressive stance on industrial ecology and sustainability. Since 1995, he has reduced Interface’s waste by a third, and he plans to make the company sustainable by 2020.”

Anderson is also one of Time Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment. Anderson is a sought-after speaker for most large environmental forums and conferences. He has also helped put together a "100-Day Action Plan for the Environment" for President Obama.

Anderson is featured in the documentaries The Corporation and Leonardo DiCaprio’s The 11th Hour. He is also the author of Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model.

Sustainable Living at Randolph College

Anderson's visit is part of a year-long celebration of environmental sustainability and a college-wide effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the entire Randolph community.

Learn more at Sustainable Living @ Randolph College > > >