The 2022 Student Symposium on the Environment was held on December 1st and was once again hosted by Westminster College at the McKelvey Campus Center in Lawrence County and co-organized with the Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition.

The Symposium is an annual event to give students the opportunity to showcase their environmental projects, research, service projects, internships and artwork. This year was the 15th year that Westminster  College has hosted the event.

In addition, a networking lounge, sponsored by Westminster College’s Professional Development Center (PDC), gave students the opportunity to interact with judges.

A record number of 115 students from six different regional colleges and four high schools participated in the event, including Chatham University, Duquesne University, PennWest University, Thiel College, Westminster College, Youngstown State University, Butler Senior High School, Central Valley High School, Lower Merion High School, and Wilmington Area High School.

These 115 students presented 73 different projects broken into seven main categories: Environmental Project, Environmental Research, Oral Presentation, Photography, Artwork, Video Project, and High School Research Presentation.

For each category a winner and honorable mention were selected by a team of judges.

The winner of each category earned a cash prize that was sponsored by the generosity of BioMost, Inc.

This year’s winners and honorable mentions are:

-- Environmental Project Winner: “How Do Biotic Interaction in the Soil Contribute to Coastal Forest Ecosystem Resilience?” by Mia DiCianna, Chatham University.

-- Environmental Project Honorable Mention: “Boat Steward Internship at Pymatuning State Park” by Zoe Heckthorn, Thiel College.

-- Environmental Research Presentation Winner: “Investigating Impact of Homeowners Private Water Supply by Hydraulic Fracturing Communication with Abandoned Wells” by Kiley Miller, Duquesne University.

-- Environmental Research Presentation Honorable Mention: “Fungal Community Diversity Provides Potential Management Strategy for Spread of Microstegium Vimineum” by John Mamas, Chatham University.

-- Oral Presentation Winner: “Kinetic Degradation of Dye by TAML/H202 as Potential Remediation of Wastewater” by Claire Mock, Westminster College.

-- Oral Presentation Honorable Mention: “Repeated Survey of Odonta Associated with the Stream in the Allegheny National Forest” by Haley McEvoy, Jack Merola-Lapson and Sara Parker, Chatham University.

-- Photography Winner: “Endangered Species: Massasauga Rattlesnake” by Benjamin Busler, Butler Senior High School.

-- Photography Honorable Mention: “Reflection” by Linnea Funari, Wilmington Area High School.

-- Artwork Winner: “Lazarus Species: Zanzibar Leopard” by Ryan Wasilko, Westminster College.

-- Artwork Honorable Mention: “Lazarus Species: Hawaii Mamo” by Olivia Lapikas, Westminster College.

-- Video Project Winners: “The Life of a Buzzfeed Cluster Student” by Samantha Sophia Galietta, Josh Collins, Shea O’Donnell and Avery Keenan, Westminster College.

-- Video Project Honorable Mentions: “Puerto Rico’s Environmental Crises” by Samantha Story, Felicity McDaniel and Ryan Gomes, Westminster College.

-- High School Research Presentation Winners: “A Citizen Approach to Analyzing Water Quality and Establishing a Baseline for Plastic/Nurdle Pollution in the Ohio River Valley” by Craig Whipkey’s AP Environmental Science class, Central Valley High School. Class members included Tanner Baughman, Sophia Colonias, Nadia Ehle, Julia Haney, Zachary Mclean, Brenan Morgan, Sydney Slater, Richard Turkovich, Gabrielle White, Gianna Cercone, Connor Denes, Megan Grimm, Hannah Harper, Jordan Hunter, Sydney McDermott, Sara Milozewski, Gaille Oneill, Mia Spinelli and Rowan Zilian.

Click Here to view photos from the Symposium.

Click Here to view videos showcasing artwork and student produced videos.

Click Here for a short video of the award winners.

Congratulations to the winners and all of the students for their hard work. We greatly appreciate their efforts as well as the judges who volunteered their time and all of those who came to support the students.

Next year’s event is already scheduled to be held on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, so mark it down on your calendar.

Visit the 2022 Student Symposium on the Environment webpage for more information.

For more information on programs, projects, upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition website.  Follow them on Facebook.  Click Here to sign up to sign up for regular updates.

The Butler County-based Coalition was established in 1994 to restore land, water and wildlife resources in the Slippery Rock Watershed.

Upcoming Events

Click Here for upcoming events at the Jennings Environmental Education Center in Butler County--

-- February 11: Backyard Maple Sugaring

-- February 22: Critter Courtship

-- February 25: Washington/Cherry Pie Hikes On North Country Trail

-- March 29: Marvelous Maples

(Photos: Student winners; Winning entry in the Photo Catory by Butler Senior High School Junior Ben Busler.)

(Reprinted from The Catalyst newsletter from the Clippery Rock Watershed Coalition.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

[Posted: February 11, 2023]

2/13/2023