L AB NOTES
Just Another Day at the Fish Rodeo volunteers empty out our trash,” says Rupe. “We made a huge difference.” Statistics bear that out: 469 volunteers (ranging in age from 2 to 77) removed 28 tons of trash, including 14.9 tons of scrap metal and 2.5 tons of recyclables. Rupe says she’s already looking forward to next year. Ceynar, Clark, and many others will likely be there too. Clark says he enjoys “working hard, getting wet and muddy with friends and strangers, and then by Mikael Mulugeta feeling the sense of accomplishment when the week is done. Wading in knee-high water “I’m not stopping anytime soon!” and temporarily stunning fish with an electric current may not be what most students imagine when they picture summer classes. (No fish were harmed!) But for students in IIHR ’s Water-Quality class, it was just another day of fieldwork. Nate Young, an IIHR research engineer, taught the three-week University of Iowa summer course, along with his IIHR colleague Chris Jones and Iowa Geological Survey researcher Keith Schilling. The class ran from May until early June and emphasized hands-on fieldwork. Students learned to use common tools and methodologies of engineering and natural resource management. One of these field exercises was the “fish rodeo” — a favorite of both instructors and students. State Hygienic Laboratory inland water scientist Todd Hubbard demonstrated electro-fishing in Clear Creek using a backpack shocker. The device temporarily stuns fish and macro-invertebrates, making them easier to catch, examine, and count. Meanwhile, students held nets and buckets to capture and count the creatures living in the stream. The exercise helps assess stream health by
documenting the number and types of fish and other aquatic organisms present before returning them to the water. Students also used Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP ) to judge stream health based on visible factors including water clarity and bank stability. The class also visited the Mississippi River, which offered greater diversity of fish species. Instructors spoke about the environmental problems common in large rivers. The class offers valuable experience for students from several majors, Young says. “They’ll have to collaborate with people from different fields of expertise, so understanding the tools and standards of practice across disciplines is important.” Each week of the course focused on different concepts. Topics included water quantity, pollutant sources and transport, and waterquality management. Ben Bergquist, an environmental science major from Milwaukee, Wis., who plans to work in waterquality management in the future, calls the class a great experience.
Above: Students are ready to catch, count, and release stunned fish and other aquatic organisms to gauge stream health.
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