THE YELLOW BOY EXPERIENCE – INCORPORATION OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE FIELD TRIP INTO GEOCHEMISTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM

Surveys show that students find field trips and off-campus field based courses to be the most effective learning opportunities. Understanding the concepts of environmental chemistry and geochemistry can be challenging for undergraduate students and mastering the problems can be eased by field exercises. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is still a serious environmental problem in many regions of the world and examples in East-Central Pennsylvania are within a few hours driving distance from our colleges. The goals of the two-day field trip were 1) to develop basic understanding of mine drainage chemistry, hydrology and treatment; 2) to understand some of the political, regulatory, scientific and technical issues about watershed restoration, and 3) provide data to the Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance (SCRA) about the treatment system at site 15. The fieldtrip was worked into the class curriculum and provided the primary group project for the semester. There were three parts to the project a) pre-trip preparatory work, b) field measurements and sample collection, and c) post-trip analytical work and report preparation.

The pre-trip work included collecting background information about the geology, mining history, environmental problems associated with coal mining, and possible remediation techniques of AMD. The students worked on assigned topics in 3-4 member groups. During the field trip, each group presented and discussed their pre-trip research findings at the relevant stops of the trip. The class collected surface water and soil samples at 11 locations, and measured field parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen, redox potential, turbidity, and temperature. Site 15 of the SCRA treatment system was studied in detail via field measurements and discussion of advantages and limitations of such systems. Upon return to the laboratories, the water samples were analyzed for total dissolved and suspended solids, various metals and sulfate content. All collected data was submitted to the SCRA database, which is available to the general public and researchers. The field trip provided a hands-on experience in solving and monitoring a real environmental problem, which involved the students in collection of real-time data for future use. These field exercises can be expanded to other areas of environmental research.