Students in ASU lab works to improve river preserve’s health

The Hassayampa River Preserve is home to 280 bird species. The preserve is at risk due to surrounding human activities such as road and railroad traffic, mining sites and a booming rural community. Liza Roger is working with Maricopa County and the Nature Conservancy to mitigate those risks and the potential for negative impacts on human health. With this lab, she hopes to not only provide information on what is found related to pollution runoff, but also why things such as water oxygen levels are at dangerously low levels in the lake.. Students design their research project in class and examine data that they collect during onsite visits. In the lab, one student tested soil samples from the preserve for carcinogenic heavy metals. Through wind and wind and fire, she wanted to see if there were high levels of chromium in the soil in the preserve that was unburnt versus the burnt areas. She wanted to have a chance to be physically involved in analyzing their research projects from their research. The lab is affiliated with the School of Ocean Futures and the College of Global Futures.

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