Sensenig's ecology class sampling water using new app
Goshen Dam Pond is becoming an outdoor laboratory for a group of 60 students who are sampling water to learn about the pond's health.
Assistant professor Ryan Sensenig's ecology class at Goshen College has started a five-week project with the help of local environmentalists and a new mobile application developed by a Goshen company.
Students wore rubber waders and used nets to scoop up muck and tiny aquatic insects near the dam Thursday. Later on in the course, they will find out more about the pond's chemical makeup and learn about the fish that live in the water.
"For many of the students, this is their first experience doing water collecting, so they're learning the scientific terminology and the criteria for collection all at once," Melissa Kinsey, an environmental educator, told The Elkhart Truth.
Sensenig and Kinsey started the Community Clean Water Project together a few years ago to study the St. Joseph River Watershed, concentrating on the Elkhart River and its tributaries. The project, a local adaptation of Hoosier Riverwatch, includes about eight volunteers who monitor local waterways year round. Some of those volunteers, including Kinsey, are lending a hand to the Goshen College students this fall.