News Center

March 28, 2014 – Creek Connections will host its 12th annual Pittsburgh area student research symposium on Friday, April 4 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. This year staff from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will give a presentation on the health of the Three Rivers.

A symposium on April 11, on the Allegheny College campus, will showcase the work of students from northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York.

Creek Connections is supported by Allegheny College as well as by grants from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Bayer USA Foundation, Buhl Foundation, Grable Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Creek Connections also receives support through the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Northwest Savings Bank, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Waste Management.

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