Trent Student Conducting Crucial Watershed Research in Harper Park
Environmental science student, Emily Amon, takes part in third community-based research project
Driven by a passion for community-based research and for environmental science, fourth-year Trent student Emily Amon is on track to complete her third project with the Trent Community Research Centre. Her newest project examines the Harper Creek subwatershed, aiming to identify the areas that most need increased soil permeability in order to reduce the amount of sediments and other contaminants that run-off into the creek.
With her interested in community green spaces and water quality, this project is a natural fit for Ms. Amon.
“Harper Creek is an ecologically sensitive part of Peterborough, and with increasing urbanization in the area, including plans to build a casino, we need to understand the hazards facing the subwatershed,” she explains.
Like many TCRC students, Ms. Amon appreciates the opportunity to study real problems facing her community. “With community-based research I can come up with solutions to problems that we’re actually seeing,” says Ms. Amon.
Her research is part of a broader push by Peterborough GreenUp, a local organization focused on issues of environmental education, sustainability, and stewardship, and a community partner supporting the project, to increase soil permeability in Peterborough by de-paving property and installing rain gardens. It’s something that’s on City Hall’s agenda as well, and Ms. Amon plans to present recommendations to the City of Peterborough about which areas to prioritize when she finishes her project.
“There’s been a lot of public concern about the social problems presented by the casino, but I think my work has drawn more attention to the environmental concerns around it,” says Ms. Amon, noting that, even in the early stages of her research, she sees her work raising awareness.
Ms. Amon plans to continue her community-focussed approach to environmental research after she graduates from Trent. “The only way to achieve environmental goals is to focus on the community where the problems are,” she says. “There is no one size fits all solution, so community-based research seems more sustainable, and more likely to succeed.”