Category: Blue Marsh

Seed for Change: Planting the Seed for World Change

Cassandra KrummBlue Marsh

Team Members

Cassandra Krumm is a third-year psychology major and Business minor at Penn State Berks. Her hobbies include singing, painting, and reading.

Kandis Michael is a first-year student at Penn State Berks. Her hobbies include listening to music and playing with her dogs.

Gabriella Suarez Fernandez is a second-year Finance student at Penn State Berks. Her hobbies include listening to music, eating, and traveling.

Mary Elizondo is a second-year Psychology student at Penn State Berks. Her hobbies include taking nature walks, photography, and baking.

Our Service

We worked with Blue Marsh Lake to remove invasive species from the Squirrel Run nature trail. We removed Japanese barberry and multiflora rose from the trail. Both of these species are invasive in Pennsylvania and have put a strain on our natural ecology. Native plants are being killed and outcompeted by these invasive species.  There are many invasive species that can be found at Blue Marsh Lake, but Japanese barberry and multiflora rose are two of the most aggressive and plentiful species. We worked a total of 32 hours cumulatively and removed about 100 pounds of invasive plant material from the nature trail. We are happy to be able to present the service that we did and despite the difficulties of this project, we are proud of the work we accomplished.

 

Serice overview video

Link: Service Presentation EACAP Narrated.pptx – Google Slides

Our research

Our group decided to research invasive species to further expand our knowledge on this problem. We were already getting a glimpse into the destructive nature of invasive species at Blue Marsh Lake but we were interested to know more. We looked at many aspects of invasive species from how they are implemented into an environment to what can be done to decrease their impacts. Doing research on invasive species as a whole brought more understanding to the service we were doing at Blue Marsh Lake and why it was so important. We looked into many invasive species and how invasive species in general impact the ecosystem. Each invasive species that is present in an ecosystem can cause severe damage so when many invasive species are in one area the damage is substantial. Invasive species interact with the native species in an area often causing the downfall or threatening of native species. Our research allowed us to understand just how widespread an issue invasive species are. We are glad that we are able to present some of our research in order to bring awareness to other people about what they can do to minimize the effects of invasive species and hopefully encourage other people to take action.

Research Overview Video

Link: Invasive Species Presentation Narrated.pptx – Google Slides

Reflection

Throughout this experience we learned a lot about invasive species and the damage that they can cause in our ecosystem. Both Japanese Barberry and Multiflora Rose are aggressive and detrimental to local flora. They grow rapidly and can be extremely difficult to remove due to their complex root systems, thorns, and spikes. Working with the park rangers at Blue Marsh Lake was an informational and positive experience for us all. We all appreciated being able to make a difference in the local wilderness and protect the native species that reside at Blue Marsh Lake. Having a tangible way of measuring our accomplishments was extremely satisfying and helped us to recognize the work that we have accomplished. Although the work was not easy, we are very glad that we completed this project. We have a greater appreciation if volunteers in our community and we are more interested in other volunteer opportunities in the community.

TEAM PICKLES ON KEEPING WATER CLEAN

Alex TurleyBlue Marsh

Hello! Welcome to our team Pickles ECAP project!

Our Group Members Include: Alex Turley, Bel Clayton, and Clarisse Batista

Alex: Hey! welcome to our project I am a first year here at Penn State Berks and I am a business major. I am looking forward to continuing to help our environment in the future. I think it is important to make sure that the world is healthy for future generations.

Bel: Hello! I am also a first year here at Berks, and currently taking Environmental Science with my teammates. We are currently researching water pollution and working at Blue Marsh Lakes to clean the shorelines. This class has been great with awesome learning experiences.

Clarisse: Hey! Just like Bel and Alex I am also a first year at Berks, our project has been so amazing as well as the class. We are learning so much about our environment and how to give back to the community by doing some cleaning on the shoreline and roadsides.

 

What is the issue?

There are many environmental issues in our day and time. The issue that we chose to research was ocean and shoreline plastics. With our high usage of plastics, it often gets disposed of in ways that it shouldn’t. Once the plastics get in the waterways, they always find a way to the ocean. This is a huge issue in today’s society. Plastic causes so much harm to the marine life, humans, and our world as a whole. Something has to be done to combat this terrible issue. Check out the narrated presentation below for more details on the issue and for some solutions to the issue.

Narrated Presentation

Our Service 

This terrible issue inspired us, Team Pickles, to do something about it. For our service hours we chose to do shoreline clean ups at Blue Marsh Lake which is very close to campus. During our 8 hours of service, we picked up a total of 200+ pounds of trash. We found all this trash either on the roads near the lake, on the woods around the lake, or on the shoreline of the lake. The trash ranged from plastics, to cans, to glass bottles, and so much more. This service inspired us to do more for our environment and encourage other to do the same. It feels good to have a healthy, safe, and clean environment especially knowing that you did something to help.

Here is a little infographic about our service:

 

Service Video

Poster board Presentation

Reflection

We all really enjoyed this project. This was a very cool and creative twist on a college class. Although there were no tests or quizzes in this course, we feel like we learned so much about the environment and even go to apply what we learned in awesome and engaging way through the ECAP project and service. This is easily one of the best classes we have taken, and we think that future generations will also enjoy this service project. Because of this class and project, we have developed a love for the protection and awareness of the ocean and marine life that will continue for the rest of our lives. We really want to encourage others and especially the youth to go out there and better this planet, and most importantly have fun while doing it.

 

The Marshians – EACAP

mms6856Blue Marsh

Who are we?

We are the Marshians and our team consists of (from left to right), Jacob Painton, Rocco Giannangeli, Matthew Tomlinson, and Michael Santana. We chose to research invasive species and remove some from Blue Marsh Lake, specifically at Squirrel Run Trail. The invasive species that we are currently removing from the trail include the Japanese Barberry, Burning Bush, Multiflora Rose and the Oriental Bittersweet.

What are Invasive Species?

Invasive species are any animal, organism, or plant that is introduced into a new environment by humans. Invasive species harm property, native plants, native organisms and animals, and cause ecological and economic damage and often spread rapidly.

What are causes of Invasive Species?

Invasive species may be let loose, brought to a new area on purpose or used for pest control in a new environment and are usually brought without any expectations of consequences.

What are consequences of Invasive Species?

Consequences include:

  • Newly introduced species may not have any predators
  • Breeding and spreading occurs quickly, taking over an area
  • Can outcompete native species for resources
  • Can bring or cause diseases
  • Changes in the food web entirely

What are some solutions?

Solutions include trapping or hunting animal species can be an effective way to dwindle the population, removing plants by the roots will help reduce the spread of invasive plant species or introduction of predators into an environment.

What Invasive Species are found at Blue Marsh?

Blue Marsh has a variety of invasive species but the ones we primarily worked with are the Japanese Barberry and the Burning Bush.

Japanese Barberry is a plant used as an ornamental that was brought to the U.S. in 1875. It exceeds 4 feet in height and it appears in clusters of 2-4 and are a creamy yellow color by the root.

Burning Bush is native to Asia and was introduced in the 1800s. It is not aggressive but it can grow up to 15 feet tall and take up lots of space.

Below you can see Jacob and Rocco cutting down Burning Bush.

Reflection:

Prior to working at Blue Marsh, our team knew we wanted to work hands on with helping the environment in whatever way we could. We had an idea of invasive species but did not know much about invasive plant species. It was not until we did our research that we were mesmerized by the amount of invasive plant species there is. When we began our work at Blue Marsh, Brianna was wonderful enough to teach us about some of the invasive species that they struggle with there. Learning about these specific invasive species made it easier for us to detect them in the wild and remove them. We enjoyed working as team in removing these species and learned a lot not only from our research but also from our experience.

Service Video:

In our service video, we explain what exactly our service entailed as well as show off the areas in which we worked on. We would like to think Brianna Treichler for all the help guidance as well as Professor K.

Brochure:

Marsh Madness EACAP

tpk5306Berks County Parks & Recreation Department

Marsh Madness Attacks Monster Invasive Species

Professor Kazempour-BiSci3 Spring 2022 Environmental-Awareness & Community Action Project

Introduction:

Our group is Marsh Madness and we are Zach Fuller, Yash Parikh, Ryan Curtiss, and Tommy Kalash. Tommy is in his sophomore year, he is majoring in accounting, and his favorite part about this experience was getting closer to nature reminding him of his childhood.

picture of us

Research:

Our research was about Invasive species and the struggles of managing national parks. The invasive species we focused on were Phragmites  (common reed), Callery pear tree, and the tree of heaven. All these are invasive meaning they have no natural predator since these plants are not in the habitat they were made for. Therefore these plants grow uncontrollably. The common reed grows on the banks of the water and survives even underwater. The Callery pear is invasive in the way it spread so quickly thanks to birds trying to eat the little pears and then rapidly spreading the seeds elsewhere. Then the tree of heaven is invasive because it grows and lanternflies (also invasive) eat the bark and leave a black, ash-looking residue that kills the trees to the roots. The roots can also then spread this disease to other trees putting them at risk.

The other topic we researched was on managing federal lands and national parks. This ranged from how natural disasters like erosion, wildfires and tropical storms damage the environment on those lands. There’s lots of negative human involvement that affects these parks that we may not realize. Some are climate change, pollution, depletion of natural resources, overcrowding, drilling, fracking, and negative policies that affect national parks.

picture of pamphlet

Service:

Our group Marsh Madness partnered up with Brianna a park ranger as part of our service component at the Blue Marsh National Recreation Area, to help them out by cataloging invasive species. Our cataloging consisted of us walking around the Blue Marsh area and finding the invasive species, taking pictures of them, and logging that into the database. The rangers then use this information and come up with an idea on how to get rid of or slow the invasive species. We as a team clocked in 8+ hours of community service and in that time learned a lot more than we thought we would.

pictures, service video

Reflection:

We got to really spend time outside isolated in nature, this made us explore the natural beauty of the environment. We all had a certain way of thinking when it came to parks and nature and it wasn’t really our priorities. We now realize that if not us then no one. We have to start taking care of it and not just ignoring the problems the national parks face every day.  It doesn’t take much to help, something as simple as throwing away your trash and being energy efficient can go a long way.

 

Thank you to Dr. Kazempour and Brianna for helping the group mature in our environmental awareness and forming a connection to nature.

Oh Dam! The History of Flooding. – Native Gardening Gals

smm7736Blue Marsh

We are the Native Gardening Gals or NGG. NGG consists of Addison Allen, Jocelyn Rhodes, and Sabrina Matteoli.

Team Introduction:

Hi, I am Addison Allen and I am a first year student at Penn State Berks. I am a Criminology major. I choose because I am very interested in how we as humans affect our environment. For our ECAP project, I served as the time liaison. As the team liaison, I kept in contact with the park ranger whom we worked with. I found this project exciting because it was a hands-on experience volunteering at Blue Marsh Lake. I learned a lot about how the Lake serves the community. I also learned about what fly fishing is, although it looks like someone may be drowning they are actually just fishing.

Hi, I am Jocelyn Rhodes and I am a first year student at Penn State Berks majoring in Elementary Education. Before this semester I loved learning about different things in the environment. I love to volunteer and serve others and I also love to fish with my family. One thing I love to do is walk on the trails around my community and look at things. Prior to this semester, I never really took any courses regarding the environment and when I needed a general education course this one looked very interstating. I’m glad I  chose this course because I got to do a fun group project and learn more about our environment.

Hi, I am Sabrina Matteoli, a fourth year student at Penn State Berks in the Information Technology Major. For the EACAP project completed this semester, I have served as our team’s team leader. In this role, I am responsible for ensuring that all team members remain on task throughout the semester. Prior to this semester, I had little interest in the environment and learning of ways to help it grow. I would participate in simple tasks such as recycling, although that was the extent of my drive to make the community a better place in terms of nature. Throughout my years at Penn State as well as high school, I was very excited about volunteering. When selecting a general education course for this semester, I felt that this course fit my desire in terms of completing a volunteer service project. I am so glad that I chose this path.

Service with Blue Marsh Lake:

Brianna Treichle, a park ranger and volunteer coordinator for Blue Marsh Lake, gave us a few different options to choose from in terms of service with their organization. Our team has chosen to create an interpretive panel for the stilling basin located at the base of the dam. The panel will discuss how and why the dam was built, how the water is used for the local county, the connection with the Delaware River, and other information as well. Unlike other teams, our team will not be working at Blue Marsh Lake regularly to complete our service component. Instead, our team is spending countless hours researching and designing the interpretive panel that will be printed and installed after the semester has concluded. 

Our team is excited to complete this project for Blue Marsh Lake. During this course, our team has learned the importance of nature and our local organizations that are working hard to preserve our nation’s beauty. By creating this panel, our team is excited to help others learn about the importance of the dam and the stilling basin for not only the Reading community, but those impacted by the Delaware River Watershed.  

Final Interpretive Panel:

Service Video:

Research of Dams:

During this semester, our team focused our research on dams. Throughout the research process, our team focused on the history, benefits, problems, solutions, and sustainable development goals. Each team member was responsible for completing an equal amount of the research. Jocelyn completed her research on the history, general information, and benefits potion. Some of things I found out about dams is that they went all the way back to ancient Mesopotamians. There are many benefits but some of the key ones are flood control, water storage and irrigation.Addison completed her research on the problems and consequences of dams. Addison completed her research on the causes and consequences of dams. This portion of research was difficult to find information on as dams are installed in areas to help with various concerns within a region. Although, there are some downfalls of dams that were discovered during the research portion of this project which include the following: soil erosion, species extinction, and the spread of disease. Sabrina completed her research on the solutions and sustainable development goals. For this portion of the research, there were numerous solutions that dams provide to the community that are further explained in detail, but some include the following: flood risk management, drinking water, power, irrigation, and many more. In terms of the sustainable development goals, each of the seventeen different goals were looked into in detail to understand how dams assisted our communities in meeting these goals. 

EACAP Research Tri-fold

Poster Session:

Our team, the Native Gardening Gals, presented in the lobby of Gaige to our class peers and members of the Penn State Berks community. It was great being able to see everyone come enjoying learning about the different research and service projects completed this semester. Our team truly enjoyed getting to talk to each and everyone of you to explain more about our interpretive panel and our research on dams.

Team Reflection:

Throughout the semester, our team has had a wonderful time working with Blue Marsh Lake to learn more about the dam and how it is beneficial to the Reading community. Brianna Treichle, Blue Marsh Lake park ranger, was very helpful in assisting us with the completion of this project. She was quick to respond to any questions and very knowledgeable about her position with the organization. Our team feels that working with an organization that is very passionate about their mission is something that made this project more enjoyable. Overall, our team enjoyed the service portion of this project. All three of us have enjoyed volunteering previously and felt that this project gave us the opportunity to service our community within the constraints of our busy schedules. Not only has our team enjoyed working together on this project, but we have also created lasting friendships.

 

Eco Freaks for the fish!

bnd5212Blue Marsh

About us:

Our group the Eco freaks chose Blue Marsh as our location for the EACAP project as we worked with Briana Treichler. Composed of Ben, Logan, Ryan, and Tyler we chose to focus on habitat sustainability as we worked on making habitats for aquatic life population in Blue Marsh Lake.

Research:

Our goal was to make three aquatic habitats to help increase the biodiversity in Blue Marsh. As we started the project, we used mainly wood and a chop saw to create the base of the structure. We learned values of teamwork as we all worked together to finish different parts of the fish habitat efficiently. This project expressed the importance of aquatic habitat as destruction could cause harm to biodiversity.

Habitat Destruction:

Marine habitat destruction where the marine environment is unable to support life due to degradation. This is a process that is contributed by various natural and human activities.  As aquatic sustainability is to be able to continue a defined behavior in an environment and preventing possible damage to habitat. 

 

Project Reflections:

In this reflection we learned many things to help us in our future. From working together efficiently and using our teamwork strategies to get the structures finished. We also learned the value of aquatic habitat in blue marsh lake and the dangers of habitat destruction. We hope we have made a difference to Blue Marsh Lake providing a safe place for fish to spawn and hopefully increasing the native aquatic habitat.

 

Click here for Service Video

 

Brochure Link:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAE9xl6CQq8/bBXMLWBhD-rF__5WfQNTQw/edit?utm_content=DAE9xl6CQq8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

 

Blue Team at Blue Marsh

jdc5891Blue Marsh

Introduction and general information:

Hello, we are Blue Team, out team consists of Joseph Carpenter, Vivek Sathyanarayanan, Travis Wolfe, Robert Nelson. we are currently working for Blue Marsh National Recreation Area to plant a garden to aid natural pollinators like Bees. Blue Marsh is a 1.800 square mile lake constructed and maintained by the US Army Corp of Engineers since 1978. Blue Marsh serves three vital functions for Berks county, first it has prevented numerous flooding events and has saves the county roughly 90 million dollars in flood damages. The lake and surrounding area also function as a large community attraction, often bringing over 900,000 visitors a year. Finally the park serves as a natural reserve for many different animal and insect species.

Service:

Our project was to create a pollinator garden with the hope of not only making the center more attractive but to also aid the bees in the area in bringing back their population. we spent several hours cleaning to garden hours by completing tasks such as weeding, and clearing dead brush. We then planned out and planted our pollinator garden, utilizing native species that would support the local bee population.

Research:

For our research we decided to focus on bee decline and how native gardens can help these insects, as bees begin to decline numerous problems come about. The most severe of these issues being the lack of plant pollination which will eventually lead to major impacts on food production effecting both humans and animals.luckily their are things that we can all do to help on the individual level.

Poster:

Video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YQrRbX-joWLJ95z5W4gszlLFQYSo6a7s/view?usp=sharing

Reflection:

Concepts like pollution, environmental destruction, and the possible extinction of of a species seam like monumental task that no one person can stand against. however out team learn that this is not true over the course of our ECAP project. Over the course of a few short hours we were able to take a piece of dirt and turn it into a flourishing garden that will be able to support a species for years to come and may help them stave off extinction. Every one just contributed a few hours of their life, they alone can make a impact on the world around them.

Thank you:

We would like to thank Blue Marsh and Brianna Treichler our advisor, they were very flexible and accommodating and a blast to work with.

 

The E-Team’s Invasion on Invasive Species

smp7039Blue Marsh

Who We Are and Who We Worked With:

The E-Team, comprised of Julian Justiniano, Jacob Lavigna, Nicholas Morgan, and Sam Pickwoad. We have been working with Brianna Treichler at Blue Marsh Lake to help get rid of the invasive species that live among that area. At Blue Marsh Lake there are specific invasive species that are an issue to this artificial lake and recreational area. It is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District. Our group focused on the habitat destruction that invasive species can cause where they live.

What are Invasive Species:

The invasive species that live at Blue Marsh Lake (that we focused on) are the Oriental Bittersweet, Japanese Honeysuckle, Wineberry, and the Spotted Lanternfly. It’s important we focused on these species because species like the Oriental Bittersweet are destroying the plant life along the trails and this only helps bring destruction to the general recreational. This plant has deadly vines that go up a tree and choke it out, killing it. This can spread too quickly to all trees and can be so deadly that the trees will fall and cause damage to the surrounding area. The Japanese Honeysuckle and Wineberry operate in a similar manner. All of these outcompete with other species growing near them and suppresses them from further growth. 

Working with Invasive Species:

When working our group met at the Great Oak trail. On the trail our group focused on ridding the Bittersweet, Japanese Honeysuckle, and Wineberry. Spotted Lanternfly’s weren’t an issue because of the time of the year. While on the trail our group was provided power tools among other manual tools to help rid the area of said species. We worked as a group using these tools to clear the area not only to make the area look more appealing, but to help the non-invasive plants thrive as well. Other things we did included pulling out invasive garlic mustard along other trails Blue Marsh has. This was a tedious task albeit a fun one as well.

     

Reflection:

Before our group went to Blue Marsh Lake it was evident (either from common knowledge or in class) that invasive species had existed.  Though we had felt that the species were mainly predominant as bugs especially since the SLF (spotted lanternfly) is a major issue on the eastern coast of America. However, once we were affiliated the USACE and Brianna Treichler it had become evidently clear to us that plants were  also apart of the invasive species issue that Pennsylvania is facing. We were educated on the plants that affect the trail/area in which we were to clean up. It was a truly immersive experience to see areas overridden with species of plants that didn’t belong go from overtaking the area to barely being noticeable.

Our brochure:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAE87hppOQc/qX7AnJJyhS7obWM8DODbBw/view?utm_content=DAE87hppOQc&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Our Team:

     

 

Untitled presentation

Final Water Testing at Lake Ontelaunee!

jdr5713Berks Nature
Jacob Feist, Jake Maher, Kelsi Maher and Jack Runco testing the Water Quality at Lake Ontelaunee

 

Lake Ontelaunee, a 1082 acre Reservoir in Berks county Pennsylvania, was constructed in 1926 to extend and improve the water supply to the city of Reading. Today April 12th, Our group the Drip gang, decided to test our third and final water quality site here at Ontelaunee. We decided to test Lake Ontelaunee because of it’s importance to the Reading city area and it’s influence on the other water sources within the Deleware River Water shed. We gathered valuable data about the lake water such as Phosphorus and Nitrate Content, Conductivity, PH level Dissolved Oxygen and water temperature. The data that we collected here will be put into the GLOBE watershed analysis program which aims to help NASA better understand the quality of our nation’s watersheds, and we hope to use the data we collected to further support our research on groundwater pollution and it’s affects on local groundwater sources. 

Testing Water Quality at Blue Marsh Lake!

jdr5713Berks Nature
Our Test site on the Sedimentary Beaches at Blue Marsh Lake
Our Group Testing the water for PH, Salinity, Nitrate/Phosphate Levels, Dissolved Oxygen Content and Temperature

 

Ever wonder what is in your water! Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Blue Marsh Lake, Located Northwest of the city of Reading PA, is a large reservoir that was built to provide power and provide drinking water source to local residents in Berks County. As part of our EACAP project, we must go out to local water sources and collect data on the qualities of our water, such as Salinity and Oxygen Level. Well, On March 22nd, The Drip Gang from PSU Berks did just that! We got our testing materials from our project organization, the wonderful Berks Nature, and our group went out to different test sites on the lake, one upstream, and one downstream to compare the differences of the water quality at each location. Our group decided on testing at Blue Marsh Lake because of it’s importance to the area, and how much animals like fish, birds, and deer depend on the lake as a natural habitat. Right Now we are analyzing our results and hope to use our data as support in our Research paper on the affects of runoff pollution in water sources.