 |
|
|
| Keri Rebuck |
 |
 Favorite Creek: Mahoning Creek (Upper Mahoning Creek Watershed)
Favorite
Wetland Plant: Weeping Willow Tree or Water Lilies
Favorite
Wetland or Water Critter: Macroinvertebrates (a.k.a.
water insects)
Favorite saying: "When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water." -
Benjamin Franklin
Greatest Watershed Accomplishment: The numerous ways in which I helped
to preserve, protect, and improve local waterways while serving as an
OSM intern for the Upper Mahoning Creek Watershed Association.
|
Submitted by Paul Staniszewski of the Upper Mahoning Creek Watershed Association
 eri
D. Rebuck is a shining example of how young people in America
have become dedicated to the conservation of our natural resources
and helps to restore the environment.
eri is a 1999 graduate of Punxsutawney Area High School in Pennsylvania. She says "a field trip taken by my biology class to a local stream to collect and identify macroinvertebrates turned me on to biology and ecology and that's what I have been studying ever since." This interest lead her to Carlow College in Pittsburgh where she entered the honors program majoring in biology.
 s
a senior, Keri was doing research on aquatic insects and approached
the Upper Mahoning Creek Watershed Association asking for assistance
with the location of possible field study test sites. The title
of the research paper was "The effects of abandoned mine drainage
on the diversity and abundance of macroinvertebrate populations
in Stump Creek, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania." She graduated
in August 2003 with a degree in biology with an overall GPA
of 3.44.
fter
graduation, Keri began an internship with the Upper Mahoning
Creek Watershed. This internship was provided by the United
States Department of Interior, Office of Surface Mining, Washington,
D.C. and was one out of only twenty awarded in the entire country.
The primary objective of the watershed association is to protect
and restore the Mahoning Creek its tributaries, ponds, lakes,
and surrounding lands in Clearfield, Jefferson, and Indiana
counties in Pennsylvania.
 er
first assignment as a watershed specialist intern was to determine
the quality the streams within the two hundred and seven miles
of watershed. Working under a grant from the Western Pennsylvania
Coalition of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, water sampling was
done for chemical analysis and biological monitoring was conducted
at that time. In addition, the Pennsylvania American Water Company
and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
provided data to develop a watershed profile. The sampling sites
were then indicated on a large map of the watershed developed
by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Keri investigated and
successfully mitigated several pollution problems that existed
along the East Branch of the Mahoning Creek. The East Branch
is the source of drinking water for Punxsutawney, Big Run, and
four other municipalities. The Pennsylvania American Water Company
(PAWC) presented Keri with a plaque for her efforts to improve
the quality of drinking water for residents of the entire area.
 nother
goal of the association is to develop a watershed education
program for the students attending Punxsutawney Area High School.
The purpose of this program is to introduce an interdisciplinary
approach to watershed education to focus on the academic standards
in the areas of Environment and Ecology mandated by the Pennsylvania
Department of Education. With cooperation from the Pennsylvania
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Jefferson
County Conservation District, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat
Commission, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and the school
district, a successful watershed education program has been
implemented. Keri provided the instruction for the macroinvertebrate
collecting and identification learning station. She stated,
"Diversity and numbers of macros collected allows us to determine
the quality of a stream."
t
the completion of her internship, Keri took a position with
GAI Consultants in Monroeville, Pennsylvania as an environmental
scientist. Currently GAI is working to remediate several abandoned
mine drainage problems in the area. The Upper Mahoning Creek
Watershed Association refers to Keri D. Rebuck as the "poster
girl" for watershed education. What starts out as a biology
class field trip for a group of high school students in a small
rural town comes full circle when she returns to improve the
environment, the water, and the quality of life for all of the
residents.
|
See past Watershed Heroes here!
|
|
|
|
