2017-2018 Volume 19

New York Water Environment Association

Clarkson University Student Chapter Newsletter

NYWEA 90th Annual Conference

Issue Contents Adopt-A-School…………………………….2

Fundraisers…………………...……………..3

WEFTEC……………………….……….…….4

Environmental Symposium………….. 5

Wild Center with SUNY ESF ............ 6

Info Session with NYWEA Cap Chpt 6

Info Sess with Jamie Howard ........... 7

Renewables Tour .............................. 7

Sustainable Fridays .......................... 8

Before the Flood Screening .............. 9

Social Media…………………..……………10

NYWEA E-board………………………....11

executive board. • President : Shannon Vogt

• Vice President: Hannah Beebie

• Treasurer: Maurice Peploski

• Secretary : Megan Flory

nywea@clarkson.edu

By Shannon Vogt The Clarkson NYWEA chapter attended NYWEA’s 90th Annual Conference on February 6th-8th, 2018 in New York City. The E-board members from our student chapter attended. We had an amazing opportunity to network with professionals and other student chapters in the state. This enabled us to talk with other chapters on ways to strengthen connections between student chapters and professionals as well as ways to get more in-volved as a chapter. Clarkson NYWEA shared our newsletter with other state student chapters and all the chapters shared recent achievements and advice on ways to strengthen our chapter. NYWEA has kindly offered an annual grant that each student chapter is eligible for. To qualify, students submit a detailed log of the student chapter’s activities. Clarkson applied and earned second place. Although our 11 year winning streak was broken by ESF we recognize their great effort and are still grateful for our award. Our grant money is helping four incredi-bly honored student members to travel to New Orleans for WEFTEC 2018. This conference is a truly great experience for student members and gives them a better chance to have ex-posure into the water industry, and provides a better under-standing of what professional organizations do and who we as-pire to be.

Thank you to our

sponsors!

Adopt-A-School

By Maurice Peploski During the Spring Semester three of the Clarkson University E-Board members went to the lo-cal Potsdam High School to talk with their Environmental Club about Carbon Foot Prints. The evening started with a group quiz we all did together to gage how much they might have al-ready learned from their teacher and to, perhaps, surprise them on what they may have thought to be true. We then gave a short presentation explaining what a carbon footprint is and how people can better manage their own emissions. To close out we looked at common cookies bought from the store and looked at their ingredients. Based on where the ingredients are sourced from, how they are harvested, transported, and then ultimately made, this entire process has an enor-mous carbon footprint. Just by showing the students the travel emission of carbon that it takes to get all the ingredient s to make their favorite cookies surprised them and they really seemed to enjoy it. This is always a great event for our chapter because it is nice to reach out to the younger gen-eration so that they are aware of what is happening in the changing environment around them and to encourage involvement in stem related fields.

Capital Chapter Picnic

By Shannon Vogt The NYWEA Capital Chapter that our Clarkson University Student Chapter is affiliated with plans an annual picnic held at Saratoga State Park; this year two of our members were able to attend the event. The topic of interest this year related to Activated Sludge Process Controls which was presented by Phil Smith of Phil Smith Consulting. In the past, there have also been topics such as biosolids, pump selection/application and filtration fundamentals. What makes this event worthwhile is that it offers continued education to those in the field of water and wastewater so that they can keep up with changing regulations as well as new technologies. It is also a wonderful networking opportunity. Our two members were able to connect with Ve-nessa Brabant, Eric Moody and Kathryn Serra; all alumni of Clarkson University and all working for different companies doing different things. We are so grateful to Venessa to reaching out to our chapter about events such as this picnic and look forward to this event next year.

Fundraisers

By Hannah Beebie We have two Fundraisers that we have incorporated into our schedule of events at Clarkson University NY-WEA . One, being in relation to all the horrible hurricane s and their impact on families down south and the other in raising money for communities in Africa who do not have easy access to clean, potable water. For raising money for the families effected by the recent hurricanes we are partnering with Red Cross to have a bake sale . Our efforts have reaped a total $_____ amount raised. As for raising money for African communities we found a reputable organization called The Water Project. We decided to table to raise awareness of the limited fresh water resources and to educated people on how there are people out there less fortunate than us, who do not have the luxuries that we do with water. We were able to raise $_____ towards this effort. The Clarkson University Student Chapter of NYWEA believes in the importance of education of our re-sources and helping others, if possible, in whatever way who are not able to have the quality of water and life that us Americans are accustomed to.

WEFTEC

By Hannah Beebie & Maurice Peploski Clarkson University’s NYWEA student chapter were welcomed with endless net-working opportunities at WEFTEC 2018. Volunteer Day, general events, workshops and information sessions allowed for per-sonal connections to be made with a varie-ty of companies, resulting in warm invita-tions to private and public events. Clark-son NYWEA spoke with several profes-sionals and got a feel for some of the company dynamics. NYWEA/NEWEA, Brown and Caldwell, and the Young Professional Committee hosted several events that gave an insightful perspective into the workforce as well as the opportunity to meet with likeminded students. Upon arriving in New Orleans for WEFTEC 2018 we spent our full first day volunteering at The Treme Recreational center. The day was spent cleaning up an area for a bio-swale to be assem-bled and painting a mural. This was not only a great opportunity for the Clarkson NYWEA chapter to volunteer their time to the community but it also allowed for the students to meet water profes-sionals and gain great networking connections before the hustle and bustle of the conference.

An night with Brown and Caldwell made for an unforgettable experience. The event took place a River Roast a wonderful British eatery and bar which looked out on the Chicago river. NYWEA stu-dent members met with several professionals both in and out of Brown and Caldwell. One of the most encouraging parts of this experience was being able to meet the employees who talked highly of the company and the workforce that came with it. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, which ended up in conversations surrounding professional experience at a younger age. Co-op and internships experiences are highly recommended before signing with a company, for the benefit of both the student and the employer. This offers a neat perspective into company dynamics while one is still learning the basics of engineering. We hope to be able to see some familiar faces and to have a similar experience next year! NYWEA was a fan favorite! It was great to meet water professionals and treatment plant operations within the Northeast region. Some people we had he opportunity to meet in the spring at the 89th Annual Coherence, and others were entirely new faces. We learned about the projected going on in our own backyard, and how being part of the student organization now was a great preparation for

By Shannon Vogt Members from both the Clarkson NYWEA Student Chapter and TXA honor society traveled to Cazenovia, NY to attend the 2018 AAEES CNY Environmental Symposium. Leading profes-sionals from Central New York with environmental specialties of water, wastewater, and solid waste presented on current and future challenges and how to manage them in a sustainable, resilient, and cost-effective ways. Matthew Marko, the regional director of NYSDEC started it off by discussing current challenges facing central new York from a regulatory perspective. Next was discussion about protecting drinking water from harmful Algae Blooms from Steve Waldvogel of GHD and Seth Jensen, the directior of Municipal Utilities for the city of Auburn. Water Utilities of the future by Geoffrey Miller Lunch with Professionals Food Waste to Energy by Bill Rabbia Putting the “Great” Back into Great Lake Fisheries by Jum Howe Director of Nature Conserv-ancy’s Central and Western NY Chapter Anaerobic Digestion of High Strength WASTes: Managing Ammonia Inhibition by Stefan Grim-berg Close out discussion on Contol of Phosphous in your watershed: From Freshwater Perspec-tive by Jim Cunningham The students could not be thankful enough to our sponsor Alumni Peter Radosta, Senior Vice President of Koester Associates, who registered all our members, provided us with dinner the night before and covered payment for some of our expenses. It is because of his generosity that we are able to participate in great events such as this. . . . . To be Refined

Environmental Symposium

By Casey Radomski

To be written as event occurs

Wild Center with SUNY ESF

Info session with NYWEA Capital Chapter By Shannon Vogt To be Written as event occurs

Info Session with Jamie Howard of DN Tanks

By Shannon Vogt To be written as event occurs

Renewables Tour By Jack Garrett Micheal Tremper, an Engineer at Clarkson University, graciously offered to take our student mem-bers on tours of the hydroelectric power dam in downtown Potsdam and the Clarkson University Solar Farm. . . . . To be continued as event occurs

By Our Chapter Volunteered to help with emerging new Chapters at other colleges. Specifically with a new chapter formation at Cornell Universi-ty. . . . . To be Continued as event occurs

Connecting with New Chapters

Before the Flood Screening

By Sonja Gagen Clarkson’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment and NYWEA Chapter screened the movie Before the Flood in January 2017. This film educated both the actor, Le-onardo Dicaprio, and the audience regarding the sci-ence, politics, and impacts (social, environmental, eco-nomical) of climate change. The film created a relative-ly grim mood; however, at the end of the movie, the audience was brought to an action that they can take: pushing a carbon tax. Afterwards, movie attendees (Potsdam community and Clarkson community mem-bers) engaged in discussion and had the opportunity to sign a petition for a carbon tax. The film humbly informed viewers of all expertise lev-els. Furthermore, it linked direct numbers to impacts. For example, in order to improve infrastructure in Flori-da to withstand sea level rises, the state is undergoing a 400 million dollar project to build up streets. This pro-ject will only be useful for the next 40 to 50 years. Ironi-cally, politicians in Florida have banned people from using the word ‘climate change’. Before the Flood re-minds the audience that the ocean doesn’t care wheth-er you are a republican or democrat: it’s going to rise either way (Stevens 2016). The film did a great job bringing facts to the audi-ence's attention while reminding them that this is science; it is happening. Climate change is like a snowball rolling down a hill. It is building up speed, and it doesn’t care who it hits. All we can do is mitigate the degree to which we push the snowball down the hill and find ways to create communities that are more resilient to its impacts. It seems like the majority of debate regarding cli-mate change is in the United States, we need to wake up and smell the science, for we are now moving to four degrees Celsius warming by the end of the century. This is much greater than the value of 1.5 degrees Celsius warming that we agreed to in the UN Climate Treaty in Paris 2015. Reference Stevens, F. (2016). Before the Flood. National Geographic.

Sustainable Fridays

By Mike Howard, Ryan Peploski, Edited by Sonja Gagen Both Sustainable Synergy and NYWEA have begun to host an event called Sustainable Fri-days. Members of both organizations are welcome to participate in a weekly small scale activity geared towards making Clarkson University a more eco friendly campus, while building envi-ronmental awareness of real issues to Clarkson’s student body. The reasoning behind this was that by doing a small eco-minded activity each week with volunteers, the clubs could create a noticeable, immediate impact on campus and avoid the negative effects that come with focus-ing solely on large scale projects. Students have the chance to interact with projects on the ground, brainstorm new ways to make campus a more eco-friendly place, and see their ideas put into action. The idea was pitched in the spring semester by the current president of Sustainable Synergy, Mike Howard and was well received by both organizations. Currently, the event has mostly fo-cused on collecting litter along Clarkson’s Munter trails, a system of trails that runs along the Raquette river. The turnout has been good with members from each club attending. The trails are noticeably cleaner, and the students find the work very rewarding. While the past projects have focused on litter cleanup, the program is still young and new ideas are emerging. Potential plans for this semester have consisted of anything from hanging up the student made posters created for the Potsdam Climate March last Spring, to affixing CO2 emis-sion stickers above light switches around campus in hopes to remind students to power them off. Interest in the program seems to have remained strong over the summer and seems to be growing. In the future, outreach will potentially be made to students outside of the two clubs in hopes to gain more participants. Sustainable Fridays is a great way to get students involved in real environmental issues on campus that give the immediate satisfaction of actually making a difference.

Your Ad Could Be Here!

If you are interested in helping to support this student newsletter, reaching out to NYWEA student chap-

ters and to receive advertising to both professionals in the environmental field as well as those students

on their way to becoming professionals, please send an email to the Clarkson NYWEA Chapter Advisor:

grimberg@clarkson.edu.

Social Media

Clarkson University’s NYWEA chapter is always looking for ways to network, recruit new members, and share our activities.

In the past, many of our activities have involved our local community, but lately we have taken to social media to broaden our

audience and engage more people. Our chapter has had a Facebook page for several years, but while we were attending

WEFTEC, an Instagram and Twitter account were created to share our experiences with our followers. As a college chapter, we

knew it would be important to be on the latest social media platforms to reach out to our classmates and potential members.

Social media will create a positive image of our chapter and show people the types of activities we are involved in. In addition,

we now run a Facebook page for ECO/NYWEA/SYNERGY to broaden our horizons on campus.

Another beneficial use of social media includes networking. Social media is a tool for connecting with people and CU NYWEA

wants to take full advantage of that. Keeping an active account of our activities will get people interested in NYWEA and help

recruit new members. Our members are constantly trying to meet people to broaden their knowledge of the water industry and

gain insight on what others with similar interests are involved in.

To follow the Clarkson University NYWEA chapter, please “LIKE” our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cunywea and

“Follow” us on Instagram and Twitter @cunywea. To follow the ECO/NYWEA/SYNERGY effort, please “LIKE” our Face-

book page at https://www.facebook.com/econyweasynergy/. We are also in the process of revamping our webpage so please

check us out and all the great things we are doing ! Webspace.clarkson.edu

NYWEA’s Student Chapter at Clarkson is an organiza-

tion for students pursing a career in the environment or

related fields. Meetings take place weekly and include

information about future projects, guest speakers, and

refreshments. Chapter dues are $15. Joining NYWEA

is a great way to meet other students in related studies,

and professionals already in the field.

The NYWEA E-Board!

Shannon Vogt (vogtsl@clarkson.edu) is a senior from Cobleskill, NY studying Environmental and Civil Engineering. She joined the Clarkson NYWEA Chapter the start of her junior year and now currently acts as the President. She is also a national member of SWE and is active on three of the Clarkson chapter’s committees as well as working in the office of undergraduate admissions for Clarkson University. After having a wonderful internship this past sum-mer with AES Northeast , Shannon is job searching for once she graduates in May 2019.

Hannah Beebie (beebiehm@clarkson.edu) is a sophomore studying Biology from Lisbon, NY. She joined NYWEA her freshmen year and is currently acting as Vice President. Hannah had a great internship this past summer work-ing at an aquarium in Rotterdam, NY and is now on the hunt for another rewarding internship

Maurice Peploski (peplosm@clarkson.edu) is a sophomore from Potsdam, NY studying physics. He joined NYWEA his freshmenyear and became treasurer of Clarkson’s chapter in the spring of 2018. During his time in NYWEA, he has attended the 90th Annual NYWEA Meeting and WEFTEC 2018. Maurice is currently looking for an internship for the summer of 2019 to gain experience in his field of study.

Casey Radomski (radomscm@clarkson.edu) is a senior from Buffalo, NY studying Civil Engineering. As she works her way through the curriculum, Casey seeks to get a minor in Environmental Engineering. She joined NYWEA her freshman year, and has attended five conferences throughout the country including WEF, NYWEA, and AAEES. Her current role in our Student Chapter is as a support in transitioning of our club,. She plans to study abroad in Australia her second semester junior year to broaden her horizons! Casey loves the outdoors, and is seeking an internship experience for Summer 2018 for some hands-on experience.