Lake Doctor | A Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams Podcast
Welcome to Lake Doctor: A Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams Podcast, your go-to source for understanding and preserving the health of our local lakes. Join hosts Dr. Nate Bosch, an expert in limnology, and Suzie Light, a lifelong resident and passionate advocate for our aquatic environments, as they dive deep into the challenges facing Kosciusko County's lakes.
Dr. Nate Bosch grew up in Michigan and received his doctorate in 2007 from the University of Michigan in limnology. With 18 peer-reviewed publications spanning research from the Great Lakes to smaller inland lakes and streams, Nate has been awarded the prestigious Chandler Misner Award twice by the International Association of Great Lakes Research. At Grace College, Nate is a professor in the environmental science program, dean of the School of Science and Engineering, and leads the Lilly Center team, serving the local community with dedication and expertise.
Each episode tackles these critical issues head-on, featuring insightful interviews with our partners, engaging Q&A sessions, and fun segments for the science enthusiasts among us. You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the impactful research and education efforts spearheaded by the Lilly Center and discover how we can all contribute to safeguarding our precious freshwater ecosystems.
Tune in bi-monthly starting June 2024, and join the conversation by leaving comments or emailing us at lakes@grace.eduwith your questions and ideas. Supported by the K21 Health Foundation, Rick and April Sasso, and DreamOn Studios, this podcast aims to inspire and inform the next generation of water-literate citizens and environmental stewards. Learn more about our work and how to support us at lakes.grace.edu.
Lake Doctor | A Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams Podcast
Future Stewards: Warsaw High School Students on Environmental Conservation
Dive into the inspiring world of young environmental champions in our latest episode! Meet Tatiksha Gorhe and Sydney Clark of Warsaw High School, who recently participated (and won!) at the statewide Envirothon competition. This exciting educational program encourages students to explore critical environmental topics and fosters teamwork through competition. Join us as we discuss their experiences, from rigorous study sessions to presenting innovative solutions for local environmental concerns.
During the episode, Tatiksha and Sydney reflect on their dedication to environmental science, sharing personal stories on what motivated them to get involved. They discuss their community outreach efforts aimed at spreading awareness about environmental sustainability, including their work with schools to create recycling programs and promote environmentally-friendly practices. Moreover, we delve into the challenges of preparing for the state and national Envirothon competitions, highlighting the importance of collaboration among team members and the role of community support in their journey. They also express their aspirations for future careers in environmental policy and healthcare, aiming to make a significant impact.
This episode not only showcases how high school students like Tatiksha and Sydney are preparing to tackle future environmental challenges but also inspires conversations about how communities can support these efforts.
Listen in for an episode filled with passion, determination, and hope for the planet’s future! Don't forget to subscribe, share, and join our journey toward a cleaner, healthier environment!
Learn more about the Lilly Center's work at https://lakes.grace.edu/.
Have a question we could answer on the podcast? Send an email to lakes@grace.edu or submit a comment below.
Help us improve the podcast by filling out this short survey: https://forms.gle/MzGSXHcnkEQC8T74A.
Learn more about the Lilly Center's work at https://lakes.grace.edu/.
Have a question we could answer on the podcast? Send an email to lakes@grace.edu or submit a comment below.
Help us improve the podcast by filling out this short survey: https://forms.gle/MzGSXHcnkEQC8T74A.
Thanks for listening to the Lake Doctor podcast. I'm Suzy Light and my co-host, dr Nate Bosch, is a professional lake nerd.
Speaker 2:That's true. I received my doctorate from the University of Michigan in limnology, which is the study of freshwater ecosystems. In today's episode, we're excited to welcome Sydney and Tatiksha. They're from Warsaw High School's Envirothon team and they were actually state champions last year.
Speaker 1:We are so excited about today's episode. The doctor is in Schools Envirothon team and they were actually state champions last year. We are so excited about today's episode. The doctor is in Today. We're joined by Tatiksha, jorge and Sydney. Clark and girls. You're going to talk to us about the exciting project you're doing at Warsaw High School around the environment. So first, sydney, tell us a bit about you and then we're going to launch into what the Envirothon is about.
Speaker 3:My name is Sydney Clark. I am a senior at Warsaw Community High School. My parents are Jill Clark and Randy Clark. What are your plans after high school? After high school? I'm not quite sure where I'll end up yet, but I'm for sure going to college and planning on majoring in environmental policy.
Speaker 1:Nice and you, young lady, tell us about you.
Speaker 4:My name is Tatiksha Gorhe. I am a junior at Warsaw Community High School. My parents are Devendra and Pradnya Gorhe. I am a junior at Warsaw Community High School. My parents are Devendra and Pradnia Gorhe. My plans after high school would be to attend college and major in either biochemistry or neuroscience, and I'm very passionate about diving and dance.
Speaker 1:And I also understand that you have a not-for-profit organization.
Speaker 4:Yes, what is that? So my nonprofit called the Hope and Hygiene Foundation, so we deliver hygiene packages in the community. And then we've also expanded, like some places around the country, like we were able to donate to Tennessee when they had a lot of flooding. Sydney was one of the people that helped me start it. She's our treasurer and she's amazing to have and we also do hygiene education in the elementary school. So we've gone to a variety of schools in our community and educated about the importance of hygiene.
Speaker 3:So we've made a couple hundred packages so far that we've given out. We've made over 500. Yeah, we have a couple hundred more to make this weekend. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Wow, you said diving, scuba diving or diving into a pool Springboard diving Springboard diving Cool yeah.
Speaker 1:What about hobbies for you, Sydney? Cool Springboard diving.
Speaker 3:Springboard diving, cool yeah. What about hobbies for you, sydney? Oh, I just love being outside, just always out, like hiking, traveling, like whatever that is, like I'm out and doing things.
Speaker 1:Okay, so ladies, tell us about the Envirothon that is really an interesting topic, all right.
Speaker 3:So the Envirothon is an academic competition that started in the 70s, peak environmentalism. That goes over five topics. So we have aquatics, wildlife, soils and land use, forestry, and then a current issue that changes every year. And then so the competition starts at the regional level, goes to the state and then there's a national competition.
Speaker 4:Is your team a club sanctioned team? Is it as educating about recycling and composting in the elementary schools? We just helped get reusable trays started back at our high school because they had gone into styrofoam use after COVID. So we helped do that. And so Envirothon we usually like just garner people from Environmental Club and then also people from Mrs Goff's APES class, which stands for AP Environmental Science. That's a very advanced environmental science class so we're usually able to pull people from that and Environmental Club and we usually just meet at the same time.
Speaker 1:So Mrs Goff is your club sponsor? Yes, and does she accompany you on these trips?
Speaker 4:Yes, she comes everywhere with us and we're very glad to have her.
Speaker 2:Is she able to be involved at all in the competition itself, or does she have to just kind of quietly spectate?
Speaker 1:Act as a coach.
Speaker 4:She is not allowed to like really be with us at all, like when we're testing or doing things like that, yeah okay and a little bit to elaborate, I guess, on the competition itself. So there's two main parts um, at the regional level it's just a written test, so we just have a test on each of the five topics, um, but then, as you go to the state and then the last national level, there's a presentation aspect and then a written test aspect. And and Sydney, do you want to elaborate on that?
Speaker 1:Well, sydney, tell us about in the regional competition. That is just a written test, but when you go down to the state, what is entailed in the presentation and the written test?
Speaker 3:At state. The written test is about 20 questions for every topic, so about 100 questions in total. You're given an hour to do all of the tests not multiple choice, I guess it's actually mostly multiple choice, so it's not too bad.
Speaker 3:And then, um, for the oral presentation, we have about a month and a half between when okay, so they've released the state problem ahead of time that says, hey, this is what you're going to make your presentation on. And then we have about a month and a half leading into state to prepare for that. And usually they make the problem it connects to the current issue and it's vague enough that we can connect it directly to our community. So when the topic was renewable energy last year, our oral presentation was mainly concerned with bringing renewable energy into Warsaw.
Speaker 2:That's really interesting.
Speaker 1:That is interesting. So does Warsaw have renewable energy?
Speaker 3:We've noticed not really a ton on like a large scale, but we do see some solar panels, some electric vehicles have definitely become a bigger thing here.
Speaker 2:I think historically we could think about renewable energy in our area. I think about the lakes and going back to the 1800s we had a lot of what are called grist mills on our lakes. I don't know if you guys have heard about that.
Speaker 2:What are those? Have heard about that. So those would be. They would have a sort of a dam on the outflowing stream of the lake and that water pressure would cause something to move maybe a wheel to turn around or whatever and they would then use that to maybe grind certain types of grains as a food source, and so that would be a renewable power source. We don't have them around anymore, but a lot of our lakes had artificial systems to raise the water level to go through those grist mills and we certainly would still have I mean, there's solar around a lot of Warsaw Community School buildings right and so you guys have solar there, I think of in different people's own homes.
Speaker 2:we have a lot of geothermal heating systems in people's homes and so that would be a renewable source where we're using the fact that the ground is around 54 degrees Fahrenheit year round to cool in the summer and to help bring temperature up a little bit in the winter, and then with more heating on top of that, so the air coming out is a little bit warmer. And I don't I don't know really much about any wind energy like do you guys know of any wind turbines that we might?
Speaker 3:have nearby. That's one of our things our presentation addressed is we know people tend to not like the like massive wind turbines, so we looked into technology that's being developed by this very small company that's meant to be smaller, more compact turbines that could be used residentially.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they're called vertical turbines and so they have this really cool furling technology, and so they're not your standard very large turbines. They're only about one or three meters tall, I think.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's not crazy, Like you could have them in your backyard or something.
Speaker 2:Oh are those the ones that they sort of have tines on it that twist this way?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they kind of twist like this. Yeah, they almost look artistic.
Speaker 2:They do. Yeah, they look really cool. Yeah, they kind of have a wave pattern to them.
Speaker 1:So why did you decide to get involved in environmental issues, and specifically the environment?
Speaker 4:I would say I've always loved the outdoors. I've always loved animals. Ever since I was little, Wild Kratts was like my favorite show.
Speaker 2:I knew everything about every animal. Which brother did you like better, chris? Okay?
Speaker 3:Yeah, the only right answer. Yes.
Speaker 4:So when I got to the high school I saw some of my upperclassmen friends this was when I was a freshman, they were. I saw them recycling and they did this pretty often and I was like, oh, this is so cool. And so I asked them like how they got involved, how I might be able to do this, and they suggested that I do environmental club. And so then my sophomore year that's when I joined I also took Mrs Goff's AP Environmental Science class and I really enjoyed it. And so she was like, well, you should try doing environmental club and envirothon. So I was like, yes, for sure, that's really something that I'm involved in and I would like to do. And so then this year I finally got to recycle, which I saw them doing freshman year. So what does that?
Speaker 1:involve.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so the same girls that I saw recycling. So they actually started the recycling program at our high school because we previously did not have a recycling program. And so me and Sydney last semester we recycled together and so we would go around to every classroom and they would have a recycling bin and so we do paper and cardboard, and so during our period that we would be doing that, we would go around to every classroom, just take the recycling, dump it into bins, and then we'd go put it in the recycling bins outside, and yeah.
Speaker 2:And why did you guys decide to do just paper and cardboard with your recycling, as opposed to like single stream where it all goes into one bin or adding other things like aluminum?
Speaker 3:or plastic. I think that's just what we're able to use with our dumpsters.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 3:I don't remember who manages that, but that's just what they can take. Yeah, what the school can really do so.
Speaker 3:Sydney. Why did you get involved? Yeah, so, similar to Tatiksha, I've always been really interested into outdoors, nature. I was very big on animals. Like zoo is my favorite place to be Carrying around, an animal encyclopedia, that kind of stuff. So that kind of naturally flowed into. How can I bring this interest into the classroom, even if a little bit indirectly, and this was the way to do it. So I also took AP Environmental Science. I took it the year before she did and although I didn't get involved last year, that definitely inspired me to go OK, I do want to get involved with this next year. So junior and senior year, I've been all over it.
Speaker 1:How does being involved in the Environmental Club and Envirothon connect you to our community?
Speaker 3:So a lot of the projects we do with Environmental Club connect right back to our community. So a lot of the projects we do with Environmental Club connect right back to our community. I run a used book drive that we give away. So I've collected the books from people who just don't want them anymore and I go to the farmer's market, set up a booth for a couple hours and I give them away for free to people who are going to read them. Yeah, and beyond that we do. This is more within the school system, but we collect used school supplies in a similar way and give them out to kids who are in need of those.
Speaker 1:Is there a way that community can be involved in supporting your work through the Envirothon?
Speaker 3:I feel like the biggest way that community gets involved in Envirothon is when we're creating that oral presentation. So this year we're most likely going to we don't have the situation yet but most likely we'll have to do another kind of open-ended scenario where we're going to have to tie in these ideas of forest management into our community. So I feel like the biggest way like our community could support us now is being like hey, this is like a real issue that's impacting our community. Related to this, I think it would be cool if you looked into it.
Speaker 4:So we've been able to connect into the Warsaw community schools. So we've been able to go into different elementary schools and help them start recycling programs, just as we did at our high school. And then we also went over to Washington and we talked to them about what they may be interested in, and we were able to start composting at their schools too. So that's, somehow we've been able to get out into the community.
Speaker 1:Do you? Work with the lunch cafeteria. Ladies on composting.
Speaker 3:That is not something we have done, just yet. Getting the reusable trays was a big win for us Well, good work, that is a big win.
Speaker 2:Yeah, another community connection would be just like last week where many of your Envirothon team members came to the Lilly Center and we talked a little bit about aquatic ecology and tried to help get you guys ready for that section of your testing and we're able to do some hands-on water testing and things and you guys meet with a number of people around the community who help give you guys some expertise and some skills that you can put into your toolbox so you're ready for the competition yeah, it is really important to us that we keep our presentation, you know, grounded, like, hey, this is a real issue and this is a real way we can solve this.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, and just tomorrow actually, we have a forester coming in and he's going to help us and teach us how to use a Biltmore stick and we're going to learn how to measure trees, because that is definitely something we've struggled with in the past. So what is a Biltmore?
Speaker 1:stick.
Speaker 4:It is this really long stick, and you use it to measure the diameter of trees.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's like how many logs you can get out of a tree and stuff. So it's usually a measurement used for like lumber, but it's also I mean, that's usually what you're doing if you're out doing forestry- so you talked about going to state and I think you might have won the state competition.
Speaker 1:We did Tell us about that.
Speaker 4:It was definitely a very stressful event. It was our first both of our first times ever competing, but it was very rewarding to being able to showcase our knowledge on the written tests and then also the oral presentation that we put so much time and effort into.
Speaker 1:How did you do on that?
Speaker 4:We actually got a 99 out of a 100. So we were all very, very proud of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so a big thing with our problems at State was like our biggest hurdle to get over was one of our team members got sick like the night before competition. So we have a second team of envirothon that was also going to state. So we pulled one of them from that team and had to drill him on our oral presentation and have that completely ready to go in one night and we pulled it off how long was your presentation like?
Speaker 2:how long does that go for?
Speaker 4:it was about 20 minutes, okay, was it that?
Speaker 3:long 15.
Speaker 2:It's a decently long presentation was it like powerpoint slides that you would show and then talk through, and then each team member would have a certain section of that?
Speaker 3:yeah, we also had a 3d model of like the furling with those turbines I was talking about yeah, very cool how many team members we have five per team, and and how many teams did Warsaw send?
Speaker 4:We had two. So at the regional competition the top two teams from regionals moved to state and luckily, both of the teams that were top two at regionals were our two Warsaw teams.
Speaker 1:Way to represent Warsaw.
Speaker 3:And this year we're bringing three teams to regionals.
Speaker 5:Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:So we're expanding and growing, which is amazing.
Speaker 2:So the written test, how you said, there was a hundred questions on the written test. Yes, and then is there five different written tests for the five different categories.
Speaker 3:that you guys have so 20 questions a test five tests. We get them all at the same time. That changes at the national competition.
Speaker 2:But and so then, since you have the five members, and each of the five of you have a certain expertise that you've sort of studied up on, so does each one of you then take the written test separately, or do you guys take the written test as a group together?
Speaker 4:So usually we all sit at a table together and we'll each start on our own specialized test. So we'll start filling it out to the best of our ability and then we kind of do like a little trading system and we'll pass it on to each of our other team members. And then we kind of work together Like, say, I don't know one of my questions. I might ask Sydney. I'll be like hey, what is your opinion on this? And we kind of work together towards the end to make sure and finalize everything, yeah, so good collaboration.
Speaker 1:What happens when there is?
Speaker 2:division.
Speaker 1:Disagreement, disagreement.
Speaker 3:Priority usually goes to the person who specialized in that topic.
Speaker 2:That makes sense.
Speaker 3:Unless they have like a real. The other person has a really clear explanation on why this is wrong and like you can convince the other people. Like the person who specialized, you're expecting to be right. So it's a little bit of pressure.
Speaker 2:So what are going into this year's competition? What are each of your areas of expertise that you're studying up on?
Speaker 4:Mine is soils.
Speaker 2:Soils Okay.
Speaker 3:I'm supposed to be an all-rounder this year.
Speaker 1:So you have to know about everything.
Speaker 3:I need to know about everything. This is supposed to help an all-rounder this year. So you have to know about everything. I need to know about everything. This is supposed to help with double-checking the test. So last year we had some issues where it's like people would disagree but like it wouldn't be based on the source material, and then we would have some debates based on that. Now it's supposed to be like we've had at least two people look through the source material, so we're comparing, hopefully, facts to facts. So through the source material, so you're comparing, hopefully facts to facts.
Speaker 1:So, sydney, how do you get the source material? What is source material?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it's the resources you can use that the test questions pull from, and they're available on the website. They're usually actually there's some books in there too, just some scientific like research papers. There's some like just material that was intended to be educational. There's all sorts of stuff cool so in the aquatic ecology area.
Speaker 2:I think I remember correctly last week when we were looking through some of those. Uh, hoosier river watch is source material for some of the macroinvertebrates that you might see in a stream, because that's one of the section.
Speaker 3:As you, as you guys need to be able to identify those. The Hoosier River Watch is like a huge source for the aquatics. It pulls a lot of stuff for water testing in general as well. Especially the macroinvertebrates Like those are the priority, but there's quite a bit of good stuff in there that they pull from.
Speaker 1:Are there other ways that the Lilly Center can help from? Are there other?
Speaker 2:ways that the Lilly Center can help.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so one of the things that's, I think, really exciting is when we do our educational programs in the community. That goes across Warsaw community schools, and so, with the 12,000 student connections that we'll have in a year, many of those students are kindergartners or third graders or sixth graders from the Warsaw community schools that have come for field trips at our location or maybe, like what's pictured back here, a lake adventure day for fourth graders when we've brought them out to go fishing, maybe for the first time some of these students. And so what we're trying to do is we're trying to increase water literacy as these students grow up and then move on to graduation and hopefully stay in our communities and work in careers in our community. So I'd be curious if you guys remember any of those things maybe an aquarium in your library or in the office or in a classroom, maybe of one of your classmates or your own? Do you guys remember going to a lake adventure day and doing some water testing or fishing? What are some memories maybe that you guys have?
Speaker 4:I actually remember the lake day in fourth grade. I remember looking at the different macroinvertebrates and pH testing the water and I thought it was just such a fun day, so I remember it yeah.
Speaker 3:Eisenhower, the elementary school I went to. They have a fish tank now and I was like this is so awesome. I went back there and I was like why wasn't this?
Speaker 4:year when I was here uh, also last year I remember coming to the lily center for an apes field trip and we played a game about watersheds and also saw all the wonderful aquariums so the envirothon's been going on for quite some time, but warsaw has competed at the international level, I know two years at least.
Speaker 1:Where were you last year?
Speaker 3:So last year we got to go to New York and Finger Lakes region and that was just so awesome. It's such a cool area of the country Because I know we have lakes around here, but theirs are just different. Like you have these real long, skinny lakes. You see why they're called fingers.
Speaker 1:And was the competition at a school or a conference center? Yes, it was at.
Speaker 3:Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York.
Speaker 4:So all the participants stayed at the college campus and then there were different activities and competitions throughout and then on the actual like competition day, so we had like this field day where they drove us out into the outskirts of Geneva and we went into basically the woods and then we went through a whole day of field testing. So we went through different rotations and each rotation like one for aquatics, and so we went near a creek, one for forestry, so we were out in the forests and it was a lot more hands-on testing. So we actually had to measure a tree or we'd have to like identify tracks, different things like that.
Speaker 1:So what kind of what kind of field experience did you have in the soil testing?
Speaker 4:For soil testing. One of the things was like they would just give you a sample of soil and then you would create soil ribbons and do different things to try and figure out what the soil texture is.
Speaker 1:So explain a soil ribbon please.
Speaker 4:So you take some soil in the palm of your hand, you wet it a little bit and then you kind of want to create a little bit of a log shape. And then you put it over your forefinger and you kind of push it out with your thumb and you want to see how long of like a flat kind of ribbon you can get before it breaks. And that kind of helps you tell how much sand or clay might be in the soil.
Speaker 1:And the benefit of knowing that is what.
Speaker 4:A lot for agricultural practices. You want to have an ideal type of soil for your gardens or anything that you might be doing, even like construction projects and the longer the ribbon would be as you're pushing that between your thumb and pointer finger would mean more and more clay.
Speaker 2:Right, if it would just be sandy, it would just crumble right away, whereas clay would start to make a nice ribbon and there is definitely a technique behind that.
Speaker 4:So it takes a lot of practice, but yeah.
Speaker 3:I can't do it. I'm not great at it either. Try to learn. This week didn't happen.
Speaker 1:What hands on experience was your favorite?
Speaker 3:Oh, I always really liked the identifying, the. Okay, my topic was forestry, but I really liked the wildlife identification and the aquatic macroinvertebrate identification. Like that's just my jam, I love that stuff.
Speaker 1:So how do you do the wildlife identification?
Speaker 3:Is it tracks or Sometimes they'll give you like taxidermy specimens and say, hey, what is this? They'll give you pelts, they'll give you tracks, they'll give you skulls. We've had to age deer jaws. That was pretty cool that. Yeah, we had a whole lesson on that and it's just. There's so much to it, is that?
Speaker 2:where you're asking me all those questions. Last week at the lily center you're bringing me like turtles and stuff I just like that yeah because you already had that skill a little bit trying to hone that.
Speaker 1:It's my favorite yeah, that's really cool. Okay, what's your least favorite?
Speaker 2:I'm not a soils fan anything to do with the soil, I'm like I I'm trying my best.
Speaker 3:I'm really trying this year especially. It's trying to be like an all-rounder, but it's like this is hard, like I don't recognize the layers the way like the people actively doing the soil do, and it's tough.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to get into it but it's tough do you guys do any soil profiles, where you put a probe in the ground and turn it a half, turn and pull it out and then get to see the different layers in the soil?
Speaker 4:so we're gonna hopefully do this when it starts warming up a little bit. But we do have a digger and so we're hoping to use that to get like an actual trench dug so we can go in and look at different profiles Very cool.
Speaker 2:So dig a soil pit and then be able to see the layers from down in the pit.
Speaker 1:That's really neat. So you competed at the national level and you're planning to go again this year. For sure, for sure, okay.
Speaker 3:What are?
Speaker 1:your goals with the Envirothon this year.
Speaker 3:We would love to place top 10 this year at the Nationals. So that's really something we're working towards. We're meeting a lot more often. We're trying to be more intentional with our studying. We felt like last year we didn't quite get there, but we saw what we felt like it takes to get there and it's like we want to do whatever we can to push ourselves towards that.
Speaker 1:So one of the questions I asked you earlier was how can the community support you? I imagine that a trip to New York or to Nova Scotia, where you went a couple years ago, and this year the state or the international is going to be in Alberta, alberta, canada that probably costs quite a bit of money to go, yes, so how can the community?
Speaker 4:support you. We've actually been very thankful in the past. We've had very generous supporters and they've been able to cover the costs of like transport and things like that, which has been very beneficial.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so our Soil and Water Conservation District was able to cover a lot of that heading into the New York competition last year. This competition will be more expensive because we do have to fly. Last year we were fortunate to be able to like it was just far enough that we were like, oh, we can take a van.
Speaker 1:If there are service clubs or organizations in our community that need programs in our community that need programs, would you be willing to go and explain what you're doing with an idea of?
Speaker 4:being able to make a request for funds, absolutely. Yeah for sure We'd love talking about what we're passionate about.
Speaker 1:So any of you Warsaw optimists out there that are listening, contact Warsaw High School For sure, because we know we've got you on the calendar to come talk to Warsaw Kiwanis.
Speaker 4:Oh, awesome.
Speaker 1:And how much time do you devote to this during your school year?
Speaker 4:Definitely a few hours a week. Last year I don't think we devoted as much, but this year we've been trying to meet at least twice a week. So yeah, a few hours a week. So yeah, a few hours a week.
Speaker 1:So how are you recruiting new members to come into the Environmental Club as well as prepare for Envirothon?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so this year we actually our third Envirothon team is completely freshmen, which we are so happy about, and they're all very motivated young girls, and so we're encouraging them to take APES next year so that they'll have even more knowledge about it, and then we're hoping that we can continue like carrying that on. And then our team this year even two of them are sophomores, underclassmen, so we have a lot of underclassmen experience, which is amazing.
Speaker 1:Can you tell us about some of the success of the students that came ahead of you?
Speaker 4:The girls that started the recycling club at our high school. One of them went on to going to Columbia and the other went to Northeastern. One of them went to Dartmouth, I'm pretty sure. So they've all gone to successful colleges, they're all pursuing their interests and so, yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:And two of them did internships at the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams as well, before going on to college.
Speaker 1:That's good to hear. Yeah, okay, well, remember, grace College is an option.
Speaker 3:It is.
Speaker 5:It is.
Speaker 3:Got to get that plug in there.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, that's good, okay, any other questions? Do you have any questions or comments that you want to make?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We'd also love to give a shout out to the Watershed Foundation for being very generous supporters. Thank you, ladies, very much for being here. We wish you just the most wonderful success and ready to cheer you on when you get to the state level and then the international level.
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you so much. Thanks for having us. Yeah, this was great, thank you for having us, thank you.
Speaker 2:Hey, I'm Dr Nate Bosch from the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams, and today we're talking about how the next generation is going to have a really big impact on our local environment, whether it's lakes and streams or prairies or forests. That next generation we want to see water literacy as they grow up. So at the Lilly Center, we work with K-12 students Actually, we have our outdoor classroom right behind us here. We also work with college students here at Grace College. In fact, the Lilly Center employs over 40 college interns every year, and you're going to hear from some of them here in a few moments. First off, though, I want to talk about three categories of careers that environmental students can go into, and so these are three areas that we've had Grace College students go into after they graduate here.
Speaker 2:First is government. Sometimes people will call that the public sector, and we've had students go into all levels of government, from the federal government United States Department of Agriculture or the EPA, for example to state government like Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the DNR or Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the DNR or Indiana Department of Environmental Management, maybe county level, working for Parks and Recreation Department, or maybe the Health Department at the county level or city or town levels stormwater coordinator, for example. We also have students that go into the private sector or the for-profit area of organizations. These students might go into environmental consulting where they're helping their client be more environmentally sustainable. Maybe they're going to go into agriculture. We've had students go into organic agriculture. We've had students go into regular production agriculture. We've had students go also into some of the larger agricultural organizations corporations doing research and development, for example. We also have students that have gone into nonprofit work. Maybe it's looking at environmental policy around the world, maybe it's working for a local zoo. We've also had students go into environmental law, which kind of moves through several of those different categories.
Speaker 2:These students are going to have an impact even after they graduate from Grace College. So we're excited now to invite three of them to do an interview with them and learn a little bit about what they're interested in in their environmental field. Okay, I'm here with Ty. Ty, tell us a little bit about yourself. What year are you here at Grace College? What major are you studying?
Speaker 6:I'm a freshman and I'm studying environmental studies and business management.
Speaker 2:So, with that environmental and business along with it, what does that make you think of for a potential career? I realize you're just a freshman, you don't have it all figured out yet. But if you had to say today what's kind of your direction you're hoping to go?
Speaker 6:I think I want to work as an environmental consultant and then lead into making my business and working from there.
Speaker 2:Okay, and you want your business to have, from what you've said to me, you want your business to have some sort of environmental sort of purpose behind it, right?
Speaker 6:environmental sort of purpose behind it, right? Yes, I just want to build technology and try and make furniture out of like just objects that we think are just trash, and try and fix it up and refurbish it and sell it off and make it something new.
Speaker 2:That's really cool. What do you think will be the biggest challenge for you in your career as an environmental professional?
Speaker 6:Getting people to understand. I feel like people are always like well, I don't believe in that, or you're lying, that's because you want money yeah right, people are naturally skeptical, aren't they? Yeah, I just want people to understand what they're doing has a really big impact on not just themselves but the other organisms out there right.
Speaker 2:So since you're interested in doing for-profit work, like making your own company, what excites you about contributing to the environment field from that angle Like why do you think having your own business, why do you like that angle of going after pollution or trash rather than going at it from an angle of nonprofit or government or something like that?
Speaker 6:I feel like with my own business. Nobody can really tell me what to do. That's my business I know there are laws and regulations, but it's my business. I get to run it the way I want to run it and there's no one telling me well, we can't do it because of the views and we can't do it because people won't like that. I'm doing it because it needs to happen. It's not because of what people want, it's a need. We need these things and if no one's going to do it, then it's me.
Speaker 2:I got to do it. So you have that autonomy. You can be creative with the solution. You don't have any any other sort of limitations on it. Yeah, that's really cool. I love that. So what's your biggest?
Speaker 6:hope for the future for our environment. I just hope it eventually stabilizes. I know that humans play a part in like changing it up and I know that nature also plays a part in it. From our class, as you said, I just hope that we can find like an equal ground where people are eventually taking notice and then like trying to make a shift into the environment and try and understand and try and work harder to help those that are in need.
Speaker 2:Good, Thank you. Hey, I'm here with Ethan. Ethan, tell us a little bit about yourself as far as what your major is, what year you are here at Grace College.
Speaker 7:I'm a junior. I'm an environmental science major.
Speaker 2:And you've worked at the Lilly Center as an intern for how many years?
Speaker 7:All three years I've been here, all three years On the research team.
Speaker 2:Okay, and what sort of things does the research team do at the Lilly Center?
Speaker 7:So we get to sample the lakes and streams around here in Kosciuszko County, nutrient samples, e coli and then obviously the flow. Then we get to kind of analyze all that data and learn a bunch of different technical uses.
Speaker 2:And as part of your education here at Grace, you've also done an outside internship with the Department of Natural Resources. Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 7:I got to work with the DNR this summer in the fisheries side of it, learned a lot, even as a fisherman. I got to experience a whole lot of things I wouldn't normally get to. One of the coolest things was probably the shocking aspect. We got to do so normally at night we'd get to go shocking.
Speaker 2:So that's putting electricity into the water to stun the fish.
Speaker 7:Correct Can't touch the water. Figured that out a couple times. But it was a cool experience. It doesn't harm the fish or anything, but getting to see massive fish and just analyze, collect data and then put that into spreadsheets. It was cool to gather that much information on different water bodies.
Speaker 2:All right. So what career path are you considering after graduation and what inspired you in that direction?
Speaker 7:So I'd like to work for the DNR not fisheries this time, but I want to be a conservation officer. Okay, what kind of inspired me to do that is? I've grown up hunting, fishing just outside with my grandpa and my dad and I've always enjoyed it. Yeah, I can't sit at a desk, so got to look for a career that's not at a desk all the time, but just kind of being able to conserve what I've been able to experience and helping the future generations get to have the same opportunities that I have, and that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 2:So tell me about a particular issue or cause in environmental science that you're passionate about addressing in your career, as you look ahead.
Speaker 7:Probably the most passionate thing I've been about that would lead me to this career is probably poaching the people that love creation and all the creatures that God's given us. It just kind of takes away the opportunities that some of us that actually follow the rules and the law. We miss out on certain opportunities by that.
Speaker 2:And what do you think will be the biggest challenge for you in your career as a conservation officer?
Speaker 7:I've always been kind of mellow and shy but as I've been here at college I've been able to open up to different people. It's been easier. But just being able to open up to different people, it's been easier. But just being able to go up to people, ask questions, ask them how they're doing and then, obviously, following the regulations and laws that we have. Not trying to be the bad guy or anything, just trying to come on good terms with people that are like-minded and enjoy the same things I do.
Speaker 2:So what's your biggest hope for the future of our lakes and local ecosystems, and how do you see your career helping make that a reality?
Speaker 7:I see the career that I'm pursuing uh helpful in reaching that by helping young fishermen, or even older fishermen, hunters, boaters, influencing their mindset into a more, maybe even biblical, aspect. I will have that capability, have an opportunity to do that, having a like-mindedness about the way our communities work with the ecosystems.
Speaker 2:Excited to see you move into that career. Hey, I'm here with Emma. Emma, tell us a little bit about yourself. I'm a senior.
Speaker 5:Hey, I'm here with Emma, emma, tell us a little bit about yourself. I'm a senior at Grace. I'm studying environmental science and communications.
Speaker 2:Okay, and you've worked at the Lilly Center for a number of years. What are some of the different roles you've had as a student intern at the Lilly Center?
Speaker 5:Yep, I've worked at the Lilly Center for all four years. The first three years while I was at Grace, I worked at the Lilly Center for all four years. The first three years while I was at Grace I worked on the aquarium team and then the last year I worked as a marketing assistant.
Speaker 2:Now, as you look forward to graduation, what sort of a career are you looking at?
Speaker 5:I really would like to get into environmental consulting.
Speaker 2:Okay, and why environmental consulting? What about that excites you?
Speaker 5:The idea of helping a business, big or small, become more environmentally conscious is really something that I want to pursue.
Speaker 2:So as an environmental consultant, you might work with a client, such as a business that wants to do some sort of restoration work, or maybe they want to improve their environmental sustainability, and so why does that interest you, that sort of work?
Speaker 5:Because it kind of follows the idea of we were given this earth and we need to be good stewards of it, and it also involves taking something that we messed up in a way and then making it better or making it healthier.
Speaker 2:Tell me of a particular issue or topic, maybe in one of your environmental classes here at Grace or in your internship at the Lilly Center that had particular interest for you, that you might want to pursue then in your career.
Speaker 5:Something that I found really interesting while working for the Lilly Center is this concept of water literacy, and that, basically, is just this idea that anybody can understand what's going on in a lake or a stream. They have a deeper knowledge of more of the science that goes on there, and with that education, I feel, comes a deeper appreciation. Once you kind of understand what's going on and what's actually happening, you can really then understand it and grow to appreciate it.
Speaker 2:All right, what do you think will be the biggest challenge for you in your career as an environmental professional?
Speaker 5:In the field of environmental consulting, I think that my biggest challenge will be politics. A lot of what environmental consultants do has to deal with what legislation has been passed, what rules have been set by government agencies has been passed, what rules have been set by government agencies. And since it's been so politicized recently, the constant changing of rules and laws can become really, really hard, especially keeping up with it and constantly having to change protocol.
Speaker 2:What's your biggest hope for the future of lakes and local ecosystems, and how do you see your career as helping make that a reality?
Speaker 5:My biggest hope for lakes and streams is that the appreciation and the dedication to studying them stays over a long period of time. We talk a lot about at the Lilly Center the generational attitude towards lakes. So if I can just do my part into helping somebody understand that these lakes and streams have to be studied, they have to be protected for us to enjoy them in the future, Right, thank you.
Speaker 2:You're welcome and we're so excited to see what you're gonna do in your career after you graduate.
Speaker 5:Thank you, and we're so excited to see what you're gonna do in your career after you graduate.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Hopefully you've gotten a sense of some top-notch students that we have here at Grace College in our Environmental Science program and working as interns at the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams. These students are gonna have a multiplicative impact as they go out from graduation working in these environmental careers and we're so excited to see what they're going to accomplish even beyond Grace College and the Lilly Center.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this episode of the Like Doctor podcast. Please like, subscribe and share, and make sure to join us next time. It's bound to be fun.
Speaker 2:Listening to this podcast is just the first step to making your lake cleaner and healthier. Visit lakesgraceedu for more information about our applied research and discover some tangible ways that you can make a difference on your lake.
Speaker 1:If you have a comment or a question that we can discuss in future episodes, leave a comment or send an email to lakes at graceedu. We'll see you next time. The doctor is in.