thestarpress.com
MUNCIE, Ind. — You'll soon be able to learn more about the quality of Indiana's water — and its far-reaching impact — thanks to a group of Ball State University students and the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry.
The group members, selected through application or audition, have been spending time outside the classroom researching water quality and Indiana's contributions to hypoxia, or insufficient oxygen levels in a body of water.
The students are completing a community project titled "Water Quality Indiana," a collaborative effort addressing the impacts of Indiana’s agricultural practices, as well as identifying ways to reduce runoff from farms along the Mississippi River – which are key contributors to damaging hypoxia effects in the Gulf of Mexico.
They will present their findings in a documentary film and project website that will be showcased and screened to the public at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14 at Minnetrista's Indiana Room, 1200 N. Minnetrista Pkwy.
The event will be catered by Johnny Carino's and will include a community panel with individuals from Flat Land Resources, Red Tail Land Conservancy, Muncie Sanitary District and the Indiana Farm Bureau.
The panel will discuss reactions to the project and agricultural practices in the state.
In September, five BSU students from journalistic and scientific backgrounds traveled to Louisiana for a week to research and witness the effects of hypoxia in the Gulf, conducting interviews at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and the Water Institute of the Gulf along the way.
One of those students, Casey Smith, said living miles and miles away from the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico blinded her to the different impacts some of our local practices can have on those downstream.
"I've taken part in five other immersive learning classes at Ball State, but this one has definitely been the most eye-opening," Smith said. "From traveling down to the Gulf to making our way around the agricultural hot spots in Indiana, we've learned that the way think and act about water, agriculture and the environment has been impacted, immensely. But actually going to Louisiana and learning about hypoxia and its effects made the exploration into Indiana's agricultural practices more real and interesting than I could have ever expected."
After the trip, the group spent several weeks observing and interviewing local farmers in and around East Central Indiana, as well as collaborating with the Indiana Farm Bureau.
Students also worked closely with community partner Flat Land Resources in Muncie to identify the need for shifts in agricultural practices in Indiana and the Midwest.
Undergraduates in the Water Quality Indiana program managed to produce the 26-minute documentary and website at the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry while still carrying full course loads throughout the semester.
Dr. Kuban, an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at Ball State University, is a leader and co-creator of Water Quality Indiana (WQI). He and colleague Lee Florea have led multiple iterations of WQI, exploring watersheds throughout Indiana with their students.
The overarching goal of the Water Quality Indiana program is to not only examine local water-quality issues alongside a community partner but to emphasize the connection between these local issues and their broader implications.
"I've been exposed to more than I knew existed, and I hope those who view our project find themselves feeling the same," Smith said.