College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

By Dave Larsen

University of Dayton environmental biology faculty and students worked to study and safeguard the region’s rivers this summer under a $30,000 grant from the City of Dayton.

The project, the continuation of a decade-long collaboration between UD’s Department of Biology and the city’s Department of Water, involved measuring water quality and the diversity of fish and insects in four Dayton-area streams. This work helps the city meet permit requirements and evaluate improvements in formerly polluted waterways.

In addition, the project provided real-world experiential learning opportunities for three undergraduate students majoring in biology or environmental biology.

“The City of Dayton Department of Water’s Division of Environmental Management benefits from the collaboration with Dr. Ryan Reihart, Dr. Ryan McEwan and students for an Ohio EPA requirement and as an opportunity to explore different aspects of stormwater management to protect our rivers,” said Katie Norris ’10, a UD alumna and environmental scientist for the division. “Our collaborators bring expertise and enthusiasm that is greatly appreciated.”

The project assists the city with the renewal of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, said biology lecturer Ryan Reihart ’14, who holds bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from UD.

“A large part of what we’re doing is helping provide that required information to the city, along with some other metrics like collecting macroinvertebrates — insects like dragonflies that live part of their life in the river — or identifying fish to see if that correlates to water quality,” he said.

The research team monitors different waterways each summer, sampling water during dry and wet weather periods at “outfalls” where water pipes empty into rivers. Rainwater enters the system through sewer grates and is carried through a series of underground pipes before ultimately reaching the river.

Should they find unacceptable levels of a pollutant entering the river at a certain location, the city can use maps of the pipe network to try to determine its source.

“For example, a gas station has a leak in their tank and a lot of that gasoline is going into the system,” said Ryan McEwan, professor and director of UD’s graduate program in biology. “They can track that down.”

In addition to measuring water chemistry, the researchers also provide a biological assessment of the abundance and diversity of insect and fish populations, which integrate in rivers and streams over extended periods and need certain conditions to survive. Tracking these metrics allows them to see trends over time.

During summer 2023, their research sites included Wolf Creek, which had some of the best water quality in the city. However, that wasn’t always the case.

“In the past Wolf Creek had been pretty polluted and there has been a lot of restoration effort into Wolf Creek in terms of water quality,” Reihart said. “It’s awesome to be able to go out and sample Wolf Creek and show that those restoration efforts have been successful.”

Much of the sampling this summer was done by the student researchers — Elizabeth Miles-Flynn, James Brown IV and Adele Hinker — whose work was supported by the grant funding.

Brown, a junior biology major from Canton, Ohio, said the project gave him real-world experience in biology field work, allowing him to apply what he’s learned in the classroom and discover a possible career path after graduate school.

“I really have enjoyed working in the freshwater ecosystem and I could see myself continuing that,” Brown said.

Hinker, a sophomore environmental biology major from Cincinnati, said the research experience gave her better grasp of what she’d like to do with her major during her junior and senior years at UD.

“I love the research aspect of it,” she said. “It feels like I’m doing something important. I like that we’re able to provide our services and resources to help the city of Dayton.”