Water
Being in a position where I had to make decisions and where people are counting on me to do my part has really made an impact on my professional development. – Student in STEP Water
ENVS 350A: STEP Water
STEP: Water engages students with learning opportunities presented by a multidisciplinary group of faculty and on-the-ground experts. Students study historical and current water resource issues at multiple scales. They design and implement projects on campus or in the community to help solve water-related challenges.
Spring 2017 STEP: Water Syllabus
Some lecture topics:
- water sanitation,
- issues in the Great Lakes,
- water policy,
- public health and water-related infectious diseases,
- spiritual implications of water,
- history of water infrastructure in Chicago,
- water and agriculture,
- water and ecosystems,
- dam and dam removal,
- water and climate change adaptation,
- stormwater management, and
- social justice and water access.
Readings:
Readings include scientific studies, government reports and book excerpts highlighting historical and contemporary challenges in water resource management.
Examples of labs, field trips and film discussions:
- mapping water resources using GIS,
- Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District,
- Evanston Water Treatment Plant, and
- stream quality assessment with Friends of the Chicago River.
Intellectually this course has taught me that all components of sustainability and of our ecosystem at large are vastly interconnected. – Student in STEP Water
Here are some examples of student projects. Students:
- Developed an Aquaponics system for sustainable fish farming.
- Piloted a living machine for waste nutrient removal.
- Studied emerging contaminants in drinking water and aquatic ecosystems.
- Studied irrigation and rainwater collection.
- Studied water conservation on campus.
- Studied stormwater management and sustainable landscaping.
- Audited water fixtures in Loyola residence halls to identify which to upgrade to conserve water.
- Created a stormwater educational video for use by an after school program.
- Investigated microfiber plastic pollution in waterways and produced a white paper summarizing potential policy, manufacturing, and consumer-based solutions.
