Greetings: August 2008

If you happen to be checking in, here is an update.

We will be posting some of the student writings from Bayer Camp reflection sometime within the next week.
Some trouble has been encountered uploading additional images to Blogger. We may choose
to place photos into an online album at Flickr or another similar site.

We will email everyone with the location of the pictures when they are posted--there are a LOT of pictures!

Our best wishes for a happy, healthy August.

RiverQuest Bayer Camp Crew

auf Wiedersehen

This morning, the three American and five German students departed Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability Camp for home.  

More will be posted over the next days and weeks, including more pictures, so please do check back with the blog.

It was a privilege to work with these fine students.  Our best wishes for a safe trip home, and a nice long rest this weekend.

RiverQuest, Pittsburgh, PA USA

We caught a baseball! Nearly…

Tonight, our RiverQuest chaperones organized tickets for the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game against the Padres from San Diego. Beside the all you can eat possibility, the game was nice for the Germans and a rare seen one for the Pittsburghers, because the Pirates won 9-1. It was exciting for the Germans because they only have soccer in their country as a very popular sport. They were fascinated by the American mentality and lifestyle, that seems to be a lot more easy than in Germany.

Bayer Guests come to Camp

Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability Camp is nearing its conclusion.  Today is the last day of programming for the camp, followed by a trip over to PNC Park to see our Pittsburgh Pirates play! 

This afternoon, Pam Stewart of Bayer CropScience in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina visited with Bayer Climate Fellows.  Pam presented a comprehensive overview of the broad and diverse operations of Bayer's CropScience division, and described the company's overall commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship.  Pam described the current trend of population growth versus food supply originating from arable land that does not increase in size or plantable area.  Pam illustrated how weeds can compromise products of agriculture when uncontrolled.  Pesticide, herbicide and other crop control agents were used as examples of how the  use versus the non-use of such products dramatically reduces crop yield. 

Later on, Valerie Patrick of Bayer MaterialScience in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania joined us for a fascinating look at the world of chemistry, applications, and products that make up the world of material science at Bayer.  The students were fascinated to pass around various samples of Bayer high-strength polycarbonate and polyresin samples, and were quite interested in the nuances of the company's commitment toward recyclable and renewable materials in particular.

The presentations helped the Bayer Climate Fellows build a richer understanding of sustainability in the world today, and how a very large and multifaceted company like Bayer can commit to a set of values that actively address and respond to issues proactively, firmly, and with much recognition and success.

Many thanks to Valerie Patrick and Karl Haider at Bayer MaterialScience, to Pam Stewart at Bayer CropScience, and to Bridget McCourt and Rebecca Lucore at Bayer USA Foundation for helping us to make contacts with Bayer experts as our guests for Thursday's camp session.

Baywood: Meeting with Bayer Management

Wednesday afternoon we went to Baywood Chateau owned by Bayer. Our group really liked this chateau, it was very beautiful, but unfortunately it’s only for business usage and not like a hotel where you can stay longer. Although we weren’t businessmen, we were allowed to stay there some hours to come in contact with influential Bayer employees. After we had arrived, we stayed some time in the pool and had dinner i.e. a barbecue. Before we ate the delicious food, Dr. Molnar pointed out the importance of sustainability and the role of our generation in it, as well as Bayer's global commitment toward a mission of environmental responsibility.

It was definitely one of our peak events during our stay for the Bayer Climate Camp!

How to Rescue the World (Duquesne University Climate Change Workshop)

This morning we participated in a climate change workshop program of some members of the center for environmental research and education at Duquesne University. Dr. Kabala, Ms. Johnson and Ms. Baxter told us about the scientific background of climate change and what parameters influence our carbon footprint. For example, we learned that Germany is Number Three of the most environmental saving countries of all industrial countries and the US Number Eight, that means the last one. We tried that ourselves in the computer lab with a program, that is able to calculate the amounts of earths our lifestyle would need. Most of us were about four planets. We also tried to lower our carbon footprint by changing different parameters. In conclusion we should try to act more responsible with electricity and food, especially fast food and animal products like meat, eggs and milk, because the animals themselves produce a lot of CH4, Methane, a worse greenhouse gas than CO2.

Nine Miles for an Ice Cream (Nine Mile Run Watershed Restoration)

This evening, we went to the Frick Mansion for an early dinner. We were severely underdressed but had a great time. The food was excellent, and though it came in small portions, it was perfect for a four o’clock dinner. Then we visited Frick Park, where the US-Army Corps of Engineers rehabilitated the Nine Mile Run Watershed some years ago. That doesn’t mean that we walked for nine miles, it’s the distance between the mouth of the creek and Pittsburgh. Our guide showed us some remarkable constructions in the creek like specific meanders and rocks that serve to raise dissolved oxygen in the water. We also found some invasive plants in that area.

After the long hike, we took a refreshing ice cream break at Cold Stone Creamery. We returned to the dorms and began a game of pick-up soccer to work off our ice cream. We ended the day tired and happy.

The Nine Mile Run Project

For anyone reading the blog, here's some background on the Nine Mile Run Watershed reclamation project. Credit for this information goes to the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association website.

Above: reconstructed stream meanders and riffles. Photo from a spring 2008 RiverQuest/ASSET teacher workshop.

Nine Mile Run is a small stream that flows through Pittsburgh's East End. You don't need to cross a bridge to drive over Nine Mile Run because it is almost entirely underground. At the turn of the 20th century, open water was not viewed as an asset to the community. Streams were often seen as a means to transport trash and sewage away from homes. They were also viewed as hindrances to the "progress" of city building and were more often than not, piped underground.

Nine Mile Run was put in underground pipes, or culverts, starting in the early 20th century. However, because the stream runs through Frick Park, about a third of the stream was left above ground. Today the stream first emerges from its culverts in Frick Park and flows through the park to the Monongahela River. That's a 2.2 mile stretch of open water, a nearly unheard of amount for a city the size of Pittsburgh .

The Nine Mile Run Watershed Association website, from whence this background information comes, includes this very descriptive historical quote:

"During the hot dry months of summer the Run is a trickling rivulet of filth, and the odor emanating from it and from the decaying matter left exposed in the dry channel are decidedly disagreeable and a positive MENACE TO HEALTH."

-Taken from an Edgewood Town Meeting on January 11, 1913 where a vote to change the course of Nine Mile Run and pipe it underground was proposed

Nine Mile Run has come a long way through a recent reclamation project. But even today, Pittsburgh (much like cities throughout the northeastern corridor of the USA) is saddled with the issue of Combined Sewer Overflow. Many sewer lines beneath the city are constructed to deal with both storm runoff and municipal sewage. When an excess of rain falls, and in some cases 1/10 of an inch of rain is "excess," the combined sewer overflows into rivers and streams.

They were designed to do this, in a time when it was thought more health conscious to have sanitary sewage back up into waterways instead of up onto city streets. When the same river that carries "away" sewage also provides a city's drinking water--there's a problem!

The Nine Mile Run project serves as a model and testing ground where cost-effective and citizen based projects continue to explore ways to reduce stormwater runoff from roofs and impermeable paved surfaces.

Learn more at the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association website: http://www.ninemilerun.org/

More pictures from our experiments on the three rivers

Tony identifying plankton under the microscope













Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers

The Fountain at Point State Park














Downtown Pittsburgh, PA, USA 7/22/08

Miss America: Meet Miss Pittsburgh (Environmental Science on the Three Rivers)

This morning we went on a boat known as Miss Pittsburgh, to get some samples of the water and to do some tests on the three rivers surrounding Pittsburgh. We started by splitting into two groups to get more tests done faster. One group would place a claw into the water and clamp clumps of dirt, to gather macroinvertebrates, to gather information on the different macros and how they can indicate health of the water. In the rivers there were mostly worms and occasional mussel shell particles.While one group did the macro tests the other took a net out and plopped it into the water to collect samples of plankton to see what types of plankton were located in the rivers. They then took the samples out of the plankton and examined in under a microscope to identify them. We ate lunch at Point State Park where we could get off the boat and sit next to the fountain. After we did some water chemistry and went back to the dorm to get ready to eat.

The food in a polluted area is also nice… (The Waterfront, Homestead, PA)

When we left our dormitory to drive for dinner, everybody of us got two sheets of paper from Brandon to read. It was about an old steel mill place, where we were going to drive. We saw the first houses of this area after half an hour driving. The area was very big and in those days it was a steel mill, but they put their garbage in tanks under the earth, so it is very polluted. Largely there were arms built for world war two. Nowadays you can go shopping and eating there, like we did. The boss of RiverQuest Karl Thomas and his family met us for dinner and we had a fantastic meal.

Murphy's Bottom Pond and Knapp Run Explorations

In the morning we went to a lake. Years ago they used the area to mine coal, now the Duquesne University uses the lake and the nature around the lake for research. There we met biologist, Brady Porter, who took us on a hike down to the lake. On our way we looked under some dubris, placed there on purpose, for snakes. We found a young black rat snake who was about to shed her skin. Brady said that she was probably a female because of her short tail. When we arrived at the pond, we prepaired to get wet, but nothing could've prepared us for this. We stepped into the mud and sank instantly. The clear water became black with the sturred up mud and our shoes stuck in the mud while we tried to walk around. We used large nets to capture the tiny blue gills and bass that inhabited the area. We also caught the occasional crawfish or dragonfly nymph, which Brady collected for research back at Duquesne. When we finished, we headed back to the van where Chris Statzer was waiting with our lunch. We ate hungrily then set off for the stream. On our way to the stream, we were taught about many invasive plant species such as Japanese knot weed. In the stream we caught many species of salamandar including: long-tails, two-lines, and mountain and nothern duskys. We also collected all the male crawfish we could find for a study at Duquesne. We had a great time!

Culinary tour CO2 neutral: Firefly Restaurant

After we had visited Fallingwater, it was already time for lunch and we went to the Firefly Restaurant in Ohio Pyle, which is famous for its sandwiches. With a can of ice and some drops of coke in it, we all enjoyed the enormous meals, disturbed by the waiter calling through a loudspeaker directly above us. That was another part of our culinary tour here in PA.

Raindrops kept falling on our heads (Ohiopyle)

After our lunch we went to rent some bikes to do a little tour on a old train track. We were crossing some high bridges and going to climb an small rock. But after some minutes we got in a horrible thunderstorm an got soaked to the bones. So after that we had to buy new t-shirts and had a shower to warm up.
Cooled down like that we did a surprising BBQ which warmed us up again. And we also had fun on the playground...

Bricks after all!!! (Fallingwater)

On Sunday morning, we visited the Fallingwater museum. The museum was built by the architect and artistFrank Lloyd Wright. It was originally a summer vacation home for a wealthy Pittsburgh family in the 1940s - 1960s. A guide showed us around in and around the house.

As you could imagine, an artist would by no ways build a normal house. Though Fallingwater is a very unusual house, our group liked it very much. The first time for our America-trip, we saw a house built out of bricks. To find the different rooms seems like being a tour through a labyrinth. But we all agreed that it would be nice to live some time in that house.

Close to Nature

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. -Frank Lloyd Wright

This appropriate quote appears at the header of the Creek Camp blog, right under the toad.

Frank Lloyd Wright was a world-famous American architect (1867-1959) who was famous for his unusual and modernistic designs. We chose to include this tour as part of Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability Camp because of Wright's committment to incorporating organic natural elements into human spaces. He designed many buildings--houses, office buildings, churches, museums, hotels. He is perhaps best known for Fallingwater, perched lovingly over the creek and waterfall at Bear Run, PA, as well as the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Fallingwater was built as a residence. It was completed in 1939, for Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kaufmann, the founders and owners of Kaufmann's, one of the largest department stores in Pittsburgh history. Its cantilevered concrete balconies, limestone pillars and walls are elements of one of Wrights signature styles. As an indicator of the change in the value of the American dollar over the past 70 years, it is reported that the entire design and construction of Fallingwater--including the custom-designed and built-in furniture--was less than $175,000.00.

The green building movement today embraces many of the ideals that Wright employed more than half a century ago at Fallingwater. Wright's design placed a high value on natural lighting, facilitation of fresh air flow, and the inclusion of natural "white noise" from the waterfall below. It is a treasured work of art, and an architectural wonder that has been preserved for people to visit and appreciate. The house and grounds are now operated and kept as a museum destination by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

For anyone with an interest in art and architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright is a fascinating and worthy subject for further research. His buildings are not to be missed; we are proud to have included this tour as part of the Bayer Camp. You can visit the Conservancy on line at http://www.paconserve.org/index-fw1.asp.

Jeff Jordan
Director of Education
RiverQuest

Green Buildings and Segways in Paradise!

Saturday was hot and humid, with a high in Pittsburgh of 89 F (32 C). This morning, Leaders Megan and Brandon took the students on a Green Building tour lead by Indigo Raffel of Conservation Consultants, Inc., and later on, a tour of the entire city on pollution-free Segway people movers! .....

After a nutritious breakfast, we went to visit the Green Buildings in Pittsburgh. There a woman told us all about green technology, such as solar energy. She took us to a green house on the South Side. The man who owned it called the green house his "bio shelter" because he could use it to plant summer crops, such as tomatoes, all year round. We went to CMU to learn about the green roof. One Profesor imparticular was very passionate about his work and told us about how he was able to save a portion of the plants he loved so much. Then we went to a store which sold only products that were recycled and/or completly natural. For lunch we went to a "green" Giant Eagle. This store had very large windows so that the sun's light lit the store and less arteficial light had to be used. In the afternoon we returned to the university and relaxed. In the evening, we went to Station Square where two men were waiting to give us a tour on segways (two wheeled, motorized scooters) through Pittsburgh. We were conected by a microphone system so the guide could tell us about the area while we were riding. We had lots of fun and learned so much!

Triumphant Return to the 'Burgh

After a jam-packed week at Creek Camp, the Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability campers returned to Pittsburgh on Friday night. Florian, Imke, Leonie, Martin and Moritz were joined by Pennsylvania natives Tony, Alex and Justin. View the Creek Camp Counselor video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amd32yDwswI

Friday night adventures took place at Camp Guyasuta, where the students learned to climb and zip-line back to earth, and cooked dinner over a campfire. Many thanks to Ranger Mike, and Matt and the Ropes Course crew for their hospitality -- we had a great time.

Have a great weekend,

The RiverQuest "Bayer Camp" crew

Check out that Creek Camp Blog!

Are you keeping track of the goings-on at Creek Camp at Allegheny College? The kids are having a very busy week, exploring all kinds of things from electrofishing to canoing, from macroinvertebrates to...tasting trees!

RiverQuest camp counselors Megan and Brandon report that the week is running like clockwork thanks to the Creek Connections staffers and an excellent group of campers.

We'll be blogging on the RiverQuest end of the Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability Camp starting this upcoming weekend, so stay tuned!

Meantime, be sure to check in with the Creek Camp blog at this website: http://www.creekcamp.blogspot.com/

Stay cool!

Additional Snapshots

Some additional snapshots from the weekend

On to Creek Camp at Allegheny College!

A good time was had by all on Saturday evening! The formal "welcome to Pittsburgh" took place at Bella Vista Italian Ristorante, located at the top of the Duquesne Incline on scenic Mount Washington. The picture does not show it, but the view from Bella Vista is truly beautiful with it's sweeping panorama of the entire downtown Pittsburgh area below.

(You can click on any picture in the blog to see it full-size.)

Pictured L to R: Leader Megan, Moritz, Leonie, Imke, Martin, Florian, Leader Brandon, Education Coordinator Christine.


The campers spent Saturday night at Duquesne University's St. Anne Hall. After attending morning services, the group traveled 2 hours north of Pittsburgh to Meadville, PA, for the beginning of Allegheny College Creek Connection's "Creek Camp," sponsored by Bayer. Director Jim Palmer, Wendy Kiedzierski, Laura Branby and the Creek Camp crew welcomed everyone to the college, located adjacent to pristine French Creek. The full attendance of Creek Camp is truly international, and includes students from the United States, Costa Rica and Germany.

At Creek Camp, the campers are living in eco-friendly style in the recently constructed green student housing facility known as North Village on the Allegheny College campus. Lest anyone worry about the heat and humidity, all of our students' rooms are air-conditioned!

You can find the link to the Creek Camp blog in the column to the right. Creek Camp gets rolling early Monday morning, and you can check in with the blog to see what's going on throughout the week. Our five German explorers will return to Pittsburgh on Friday evening, along with three American students, for week 2 of Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability Camp.

To all our colleagues at Creek Camp: hope you have a fantastic week!

See you soon.

Jeff Jordan
Director of Education

Herzlich Willkommen!

Our five transcontinental students from Germany arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport at about 7:30 PM yesterday evening. With the time difference, their brains were telling them that it was 1:30 AM!

At Pittsburgh International Airport, next to the Bayer "Making Science Make Sense" exhibit. Standing L to R: Leader Brandon, Imke, Leonie, Martin, Moritz, Florian. Kneeling: Leader Megan

Florian, Imke, Martin, Leonie and Moritz were greeted by a hot and humid evening in Pittsburgh. Saturday's forecast is for a high temperature of 90 F with high humidity. Who needs to visit the tropics when you can visit Pittsburgh?

Today is Saturday, and the schedule is relaxed and fun. As I type this, the Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability Campers are on board the RiverQuest vessel Discovery enjoying a cool morning sail on the three rivers around the Golden Triangle, Pittsburgh's sparkling downtown district bordered by the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers as they meet at "the Point" to form the Ohio River.

Later today, we will ride the Duquesne Incline to Mount Washington, a neighborhood that overlooks the Golden Triangle. We'll have dinner together and enjoy the scenic overlooks that show off "America's Most Livable City." Tomorrow, our camp leaders Megan and Brandon will accompany the group to Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, for the start of a very busy week of science, nature, and fun.


Have a great weekend, everyone!

Greetings from RiverQuest!

Greetings from RiverQuest in Pittsburgh, PA, USA!

RiverQuest and Creek Connections of Allegheny College are getting ready for the start of a new collaborative program - Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability Camp!

This international two-week summer program is sponsored by Bayer ScienceEducation Foundation and Bayer USA Foundation. This blog will contain student writing from week 2 of the experience. To find the blog for week 1 of Creek Camp, use the link you will find to the right.

We expect to post photos and reflections each day on the site for everyone to enjoy. Our intrepid international scientists will investigate human impacts on the environment and sustainability by using some of the rural and urban freshwater environments you can find here in western Pennsylvania. Along the way, we'll have a lot of fun and adventure.

Jeff Jordan

Director of Education

RiverQuest