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April 25, 2006
OHIO UNIVERSITY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR WINS
NATIONAL MINERALS EDUCATION AWARD
COLUMBUS, OH - Mary Wilder Stoertz, Ph.D., assistant professor of geological sciences at Ohio University, has been named a 2006 recipient of the Minerals Education Award of the Interstate Mining Compact Commission (IMCC). Staff from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Mineral Resources Management nominated Stoertz for the award.
The IMCC is a 22-state governmental organization that represents the mining and reclamation interests of its members. This Minerals Education Award is presented annually to a teacher or school from one of the IMCC states.
Stoertz’ teaching involves practical solutions to environmental problems in southeast Ohio’s coal mining region. Her research topics have been important in restoring water resources in streams impacted by past mining, while providing students with hands-on opportunities for service and learning.
In 2001, she began working with the Sunday Creek Watershed, engaging her hydrogeology class in a study of how mining sinkholes, or subsidence, have caused stream flows to disappear into old mines, adding to acid mine drainage pollution in the area.
Ten to 20 seniors and graduate students with collective training in hydrogeology, geochemistry, biology, geophysics, civil engineering and environmental studies teamed on the research. The students worked on real-world problems with clients and presented their findings as written reports, oral presentations or posters.
The clients benefited from the low-cost, rapid completion (10 - 15 weeks) of the project that resulted in a proposal-ready product. Since the initial project was so successful, other projects have been conducted yearly in the southeastern Ohio coal mining region. This work has provided opportunities for more than 24 graduate research papers on the complex subject of acid mine drainage clean up.
Completion of these classes has enabled ODNR and its partners to choose appropriate remediation strategies for mining-affected areas. The experience has also prepared future leaders in the area of mineral resources management for the challenges of continued restoration of lands and waters adversely affected by past mining practices.
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