Connecting Students to Environmental Impact

“For me, trained as a plant ecologist, it all comes down to the connectedness…how we choose to live is going to have an impact on the natural world around us.”

A seed was planted three years ago at a conference of Illinois private forest owners discussing the effects of post-emergent herbicide drift on trees. Andrea Nord (pictured above), GU associate professor of biology and chemistry, was on the lookout for a research project to involve students in environmental investigation and impact. It was there she learned about the efforts of the Prairie Rivers Network to collect data on trees throughout Illinois. While the Prairie Rivers Network has been amassing information about Illinois forests for several years, none had been collected in Bond and the surrounding counties. Here was a need and a specific opportunity to address it. As Nord points out, “The tree project doesn’t have any prerequisites other than students have to be willing to get out there with the ticks and poison ivy.” Nord brought in retired Illinois State Biologist Marty Kemper, an early developer of the program, to train GU students on the collection process. What professor Nord and the students discovered in just two years suggests there are significant effects on trees from the drift from post-emergent herbicides such as Dicamba and 2,4-D.

“When you look at the big picture, you see how our agriculture choices connect to what’s going on in the forest. We see all this damage to the leaves. We don’t know how that is affecting tree growth,” Nord states.

They hope to continue the project in the years to come, strengthening the consistency of data collection and digging deeper into the chemistry of what is happening on a tissue and cellular level. Nord believes in the significance of the research and its consequences for the future. “We’re looking at our data and figuring out what questions we can ask, but we’re contributing a little piece to a much bigger picture, as well.”

“To go outside and look at trees, identify trees, rate trees … I thought, can I really do it?” - Khang “Simba” Bui ’24

Khang “Simba” Bui ’24 admits he was a bit skeptical about his participation in this year’s summer science research project.

“I thought there was no way I could get this research opportunity because I’m just a freshman. I don’t have as much experience as the others,” Simba says.

He submitted his application after encouragement from professors and his friend, Manh “Mark” Nguyen ’24, who was eager to get out into nature. As international students from Vietnam, Mark and Simba knew how critical research experience is for continuing their education.

Professor Andrea Nord believed they would do well collecting and analyzing data for the Prairie Rivers Network Tree project.

The biology and chemistry majors had already worked together as lab partners, but now they faced not only physical challenges of weather and terrain, but also learning how to identify and grade trees native to Illinois. Mark wasn’t familiar with many of the trees. “Where’s the fruit? Vietnam has lots of tropical trees like coconut trees, and here in Illinois, you would never see a coconut tree.”

After three days of intense training, the student researchers spent six weeks observing, photographing, and recording the signs of distress in the trees’ leaves. Identifying leaf injuries like cupping, drooping, stunting, or irregular edges came more easily as the weeks went by.

Mark and Simba’s experience gave them a greater appreciation and a growing awareness of the environment. Their success this year paves the way for continuing research in the summers to come.

Summer science research is possible through the generosity of GU donor support of the Catalyst Fund and the Foundation for the Sciences Fund.