Students in teacher Ryan Black‘s Advanced Environmental Science classes visited the internationally renowned Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, PA. Located along the pristine White Clay Creek, the Center offered an ideal environment for students to conduct chemical tests of water quality and assess aquatic biodiversity using a biotic index. The experience allowed students to observe what a healthy local stream should look like and compare it to the more impacted streams on our campus.
During the visit, students toured Stroud’s Platinum LEED-certified facility, which features vermiculture composting toilets and a streamhouse—an indoor laboratory where stream water is circulated for algae growth and controlled experiments. They also met with Stroud’s entomology team to gain a deeper understanding of macroinvertebrates and their role as indicators of stream health. Independent study student Mira Hartmann ’25 was able to tour their entomology lab and speak directly with the entomologist to gain insight into advanced analysis methods for the macroinvertebrate data she has been collecting on campus.
This immersive field experience enriched the students’ classroom learning and emphasized the importance of real-world, field-based research in understanding and protecting freshwater ecosystems.
