Poster Presentations

The Master of Science Degree is rapidly becoming the professional working degree in Biology. This degree provides the advanced training in the biological sciences and supporting disciplines which working biologists need. Bloomsburg University is a great choice for graduate school. The Department of Biological and Allied Health Sciences faculty members represent a diverse…

Waterways throughout Appalachia and other areas in the United States are impacted by acid mine drainage. Treatment of mine water often results in large quantities of solids, also known as mine drainage residuals, that are typically disposed by burial, landfilling, or pumping back into mine pools. We hypothesize that mine…

Middle Creek is a tributary of the main stem of the Susquehanna River, and its watershed is confined mostly to Snyder County. The upper reaches of the stream are defined by two major branches, the North Branch and the West Branch, each of which is interrupted by a reservoir…

Environmental justice in coal regions tends to be tied to the active and legacy mining impacts of coal extraction on natural and human communities. However, in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal mining region, there is a history of diverse industrial land uses in addition to coal extraction. These former industrial…

Amphibians have many biological characteristics that make them sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, particularly climate change. These characteristics allow researchers to use amphibians as indicators of environmental change and explore ways to mitigate adverse effects. The eastern red-backed salamander, Plethodon cinereus, can be used as a model organism in…

The microbiome of the Susquehanna River is largely neglected in the scientific literature. In the last decade my lab has been exploring the metabolic diversity of bacteria in the Susquehanna and other local water systems using traditional microbiological as well as genomic and metagenomic techniques. Our first analyses focused…

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the productive and innovative collaboration between Bucknell students, faculty, and staff and community leaders in the post-industrial river town, Milton, especially with The Improved Milton Experience (TIME). Until the outbreak of the pandemic, Bucknell, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation of Natural Resources (DCNR) and TIME worked…

Storm and flood water are managed separately in Pennsylvania due to legislation in the 1970s. Already one of the most flood prone states in the U.S., Pennsylvania faces increased flood and stormwater management challenges going forward. To address how Pennsylvania might better manage storm and flood water going forward, this…

The Clean Water Institute at Lycoming College has been conducting field and laboratory analysis on the urban streams of Lycoming County MS4 region since 2015. The County MS4 includes 9 municipalities/boroughs. Over 200 stormwater outfalls empty into 8 urban streams (Grafius Run, McClure Run, Millers Run, Bull Run, Mill Creek…

Spending time in areas with aquatic features (‘blue space’) may benefit health through ‘restoration’ from attentional fatigue and emotional stress. Salutogenic effects of blue space remain underexplored, particularly in non-coastal and non-urban areas, as do correlates of visit frequency to freshwater blue space (FBS). We surveyed adults in 40 small…

Florida regulations require residential and commercial developments to install stormwater detention ponds, for the purpose of reducing nutrient pollutants in runoff to receiving waters. The 800-acre main campus of Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), in southwest Florida, mitigates flooding not only with its ponds – 15 designed ponds, of an…

Sustainability @ Bucknell praxis can be viewed in multidimensions with three critical legs on the tripod of both short- and longer-term resiliency and endurance of the campus community. These three legs are waste reduction, decarbonization and ecological vitality. Ecological vitality deals with natural habitat diversity and overall balance through effective…

Sustainability is the ability of a community to endure and remain resilient socially, technologically and environmentally. At the most local level, a community is a collection of families and globally, a collection of nations. On this local-to-global continuum are institutions, corporations and political units such as states, counties, cities and…

The aim of this study is to look at density and diversity of fish surveys since the institution of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Wolf Run watershed. The TMDL was developed in 2002 because of major impairments seen. Since then, the TMDL has been completed in 2013 by…

The Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability (WATERS) project funded by NSF develops and researches a student-centered, universally accessible curriculum for teaching water concepts & career awareness. Applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, the project increases awareness of and engagement with water concepts and career pathways…

In the U.S., surface water is subject to regulatory limits for fecal indicator bacteria (FIBs) including fecal coliforms, e. coli, and Enterococci, which serve as indicators of possible contamination with human wastes and the negative health effects that can accompany it. Data from 20 years of sampling show that, among…

Many small streams in Pennsylvania have become incised due to human activity. This channel deepening has led to a myriad of issues including stream bank erosion and increased discharge during storm events. Headwater streams serve as a critical link between terrestrial and downstream ecosystems in transporting organic material…

Leveraging the Bucknell Green Fund for a more Sustainable Kinney Natatorium Stephen P. Durfee Campus Energy Manager/MSUS ‘21 2020 Susquehanna River Symposium Bucknell University Abstract The Bucknell Green Fund is a revolving loan fund that pays for campus sustainability projects that have economic, environmental and social benefit. The annual cost savings associated with the reduction…