News Center

April 11, 2013 – Creek Connections will host its 11th annual Pittsburgh area student research symposium on Friday, April 19 at YMCA Camp Kon-O-Kwee in Fombell, just west of Zelienople. Community members are invited to view students’ project displays from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the camp.

Creek Connections is an outreach program of Allegheny College that brings hands-on, inquiry-based education about watersheds to students ranging in age from elementary to high school.

Throughout the school year, participating students retrieve water samples and conduct research on various waterways, monitoring the conditions that affect the creeks’ water quality. At the research symposium, they come together to share interactive research displays and hands-on workshops with their classmates, teachers and the community.

Approximately 300 students from southwestern Pennsylvania will attend the symposium. Several environmental organizations will present displays, and wildlife presentations are planned as well.

An earlier symposium, on the Allegheny College campus, showcased the work of students from northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York.

Directed by Jim Palmer, associate professor of environmental science and biology at Allegheny, Creek Connections is supported by Allegheny College, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Bayer USA Foundation, the Buhl Foundation, the Grable Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Currently, the annual operating costs of the Creek Connections program is $170,000, of which the USEPA provides $40,300 or 23.7 percent and private foundations and Allegheny College provide $129,700 or 76.3 percent in support.

For more information, contact Wendy Kedzierski at 814-332-5351 or visit creekconnections.allegheny.edu.