Note: This post was written by Nona Shipman from the One World, One Water Center at Metropolitan State University. She is Coyote Gulch’s first ever guest blogger. Giver her a read and welcome her in the comments. — John Orr
Mini Vans, Karaoke, Parrots, and Water Quality
A person could do a lot with $12,000. They could pay off student loans or buy a slightly used 2010 mini van. They could purchase one first class round trip flight from Washington, DC to Narita Airport in Tokyo and have a bit left over for sight-seeing and karaoke. For $12,000 a person could even buy a rare Hyacinth Macaw Parrot, the largest of the parrot species. In early May 2013, the City of Golden decided to donate $12,000 in the form of two American Sigma Model 700s for water quality sampling to the One World One Water Center at Metropolitan State University of Denver. In turn, the OWOW Center passed the equipment on to Dr. Jason Janke in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department.
This is big news for the OWOW Center and the EAS Department. Never before have MSU Denver students had access to equipment of this sampling scale. Currently students conduct studies on water outflows from glaciers and permafrost in the Rocky Mountain National Park but must visit their sites frequently to collect samples. The new equipment can be installed on site and programmed to collect water samples at a chosen interval and will run off of a battery. “This will allow students to sample at an increased density without having to return to the field multiple times,” said Dr. Janke. As part of the water curriculum required for students in the EAS Dept, the two models will initially be installed for sampling in Cherry Creek or another student based project in the Denver urban area in the Fall of 2013.
Recently, the OWOW Water Studies Minor was approved by the Board of Trustees at MSU Denver and is believed to be the very first entirely interdisciplinary water minor established at a university in the US. Currently Dr. Janke’s Department and a handful of other water loving educators teach the core courses required for the OWOW Water Studies Minor. The OWOW Center is very excited about the new development and happily looks forward to being able to provide MSU Denver students with more educational water opportunities in the form of classes, events, field trips, and equipment. Follow The One World One Water Center on Facebook for updates on their journey to bring water education to MSU Denver students and visit www.msud.edu/owow for more information on the new Water Studies Minor.