Chemistry Majors Presented Test Results at Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition Meeting
Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Nine Westminster College chemistry majors presented the results of a service-learning project at a meeting of the Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition (SRWC) May 12 at the Jennings Environmental Education Center.
The students are from an advanced laboratory class taught by Dr. Helen Boylan, Westminster associate professor of chemistry. They collaborated with the SRWC to test the passive water treatment system for treating abandoned mine drainage at the DeSale Restoration Area Phase I site in Butler County. Students performed field tests and collected water samples to analyze in the laboratory.
"This collaboration is in its fifth year," Boylan said. "This is the first time students tested microorganisms in the system. They found a strong presence of iron- and manganese-oxidizing bacteria in certain stages of the passive treatment system and determined that the recent heavy rains had impacted the system's ability to treat manganese."
Boylan, a Westminster graduate, earned a Ph.D. from Duquesne University and joined the faculty in 2001.
Contact Boylan at (724) 946-6293 or email boylanhm@westminster.edu for additional information.
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