Students help plant an acid mine drainage passive treatment wetland

The American Society of Mining and Reclamation is a professional Society consisting of representatives from mining companies, corporate offices, consulting services, employees of academic institutions, employees of state and federal regulatory agencies, as well as students. This summer, Saint Francis University formed a ASMR Student Chapter. The objective of the student chapter is to provide undergraduate students in the environmental engineering field with the opportunity to better acquaint themselves with the mining and reclamation field of work including research, occupations, and treatment processes. Additionally, the objective of the group is to provide students with a means of discussing and applying their understanding of these ideas with peers and faculty in a real world setting. The student chapter meets monthly and participates in community service events at least once per semester.

In November 2016, the ASMR Student Chapter participated in volunteer work in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. The community service entailed helping BioMost, an environmental consulting firm, plant an acid mine drainage passive treatment wetland. A group of 7 members of the student chapter helped to plant close to 2,000 bare-root plants at the wetland site and then seeded cattail. This volunteer work proved to be both fun and educational as the group members received a tour of the entire treatment operation as well as insight on what is required when designing passive treatment wetlands. Additionally, BioMost was also very thankful for the help at their site and offered to provide the student chapter with future volunteer opportunities.