College of Arts & Science Student Earns Honor
Environmental studies major Marie Dahl and her advisor Dr. Woodward Bousquet attended the Virginia Academy of Science’s annual meeting where Dahl received an award for her research paper on water quality
Environmental studies major Marie Dahl and her advisor Dr. Woodward Bousquet attended the Virginia Academy of Science’s annual meeting this past summer. Dahl received an award for her research paper on water quality.
For nearly two decades, Shenandoah science faculty and students have been frequent presenters at annual meetings of the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS).
After the spring 2009 semester ended, environmental studies major Marie Dahl and her advisor, Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology Woodward Bousquet, attended the VAS meeting, held this year at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Dahl presented her paper titled, "Baseline Water Quality Assessment in Hiatt and Lick Runs, Opequon Creek Watershed, Frederick County, Virginia."
Dahl’s paper was based on a year-long study she and six other environmental studies students conducted under Dr. Bousquet’s supervision.
Her six co-researchers were Jared Davis, Andrew Fisher, Brandon Millholland, J.W. Pangle and Jeremy Tovar. All seven graduated from Shenandoah in May 2009.
At the close of the VAS meeting, Dahl received Honorable Mention in the Environmental Science Section of the Student Paper Competition. Judges were particularly impressed by her presentation of the research team’s data analysis.
Dr. Bousquet was elected as an officer in the VAS’s Environmental Science Section. He will serve a three-year term.
After graduation, Dahl moved to Hawaii, where she is employed as a soil science technician by the U.S. Department of the Navy.
Results of the Shenandoah study are being used to monitor water quality in the Opequon Creek watershed, which includes the university’s main campus and extends north through West Virginia to the Potomac River.
Although the researchers found that water quality was impaired, their measurements indicated improvements are occurring because some landowners are planting native trees and other vegetation along stream banks.
The research was supported in part by a grant to Virginia Tech from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
For more information, contact Dr. Bousquet at (540) 665-5461 or wbousque@su.edu.
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