Keeping Tabs on Environmental Impact of the New Wal-Mart

	South Park river site with mallard and blue heron visible in the river.

Students and faculty from the Methods of Environmental Science class, one of the core courses for the new environmental science major, have begun work on the South Park river site in Hartford. The group is concerned about the potential environmental impact of the Wal-Mart currently under construction at the heart of the city.

As part of the Trinity College Community Learning Initiative (CLI), students are installing flow sensors in the river and counting insects in the stream bed, in order to gather base line environmental data on the river. The group, which also includes professors David Henderson, Joan Morrison, Christoph Geiss, and Scott Smedley, will monitor the environmental impact in the area as Wal-Mart construction is completed and as the store is in operation.

Professors Smedley, Morrison, and Geiss taking equipment in for the day's lab.

The purpose of the course is for students to learn a variety of techniques important in environmental science in the context of a community project. As Henderson puts it, “Ultimately the goal is to ensure that this pretty site is preserved and possibly to create a passive recreational area.”

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