Best In Class: Why More Teachers are Bringing Instrumentation Into the Classroom and Students Into the Field
Webinar Overview
As the job market tightens, it’s more important than ever that college students graduate fully prepared for the jobs they seek. For this webinar, we’ve brought together three university professors who’ve successfully designed courses and created opportunities to give their students real-world experience in surface water and groundwater monitoring, despite tight budgets and curricular constraints. Also on the panel will be a representative from the Interstate Council on Water Policy to discuss opportunities for learning and collaboration on a variety of water management issues.
Sign up today to learn from this diverse group, and participate in a one hour live discussion about preparing our next generation of water monitoring experts.
Three professors from universities with prominent environmental sciences programs will each give a brief presentation covering the following:
- Course design
- What equipment to provide and how to get it
- First-hand accounts of course results
- Challenges and how to overcome them
- Plans for future courses
ICWP Executive Director Sue Lowry will also give a brief presentation on the organization’s work and how academic institutions can be involved. Following the presentations, In-Situ Application Development Manager Eric Robinson will moderate a question and answer period.
University professors teaching:
- Environmental Science
- Watershed Science
- Hydrology
- Geology
- Marine Science
- Water Resources Engineering
- Environmental Policy
- Or any hard science in which equipment will be used in the workplace
Presenter: Dr. Matt Reeves, Dr. James Ivey, Dr. Matt Ross, Sue Lowry and Eric Robinson
Dr. Matt Reeves – Western Michigan University Dr. Reeves is an associate professor of hydrogeology and director of the Hydrogeology Field Course at Western Michigan University. With his course, one of only a few hydro-technical programs in the U.S., he’s working to reshape the culture of geology programs nationwide and encourage experiential learning to prepare students for the workforce.
Dr. James Ivey – University of South Florida St. Petersburg Dr. Ivey is an instructor in the Environmental Sciences Program at USF. His popular Field Methods course includes lectures, labs, instruction on autonomous water quality monitoring systems, mapping and monitoring equipment operation, and actual project design and execution.
Dr. Matt Ross – Colorado State University Dr. Ross teaches a water quality lab focused on both collecting and analyzing a variety of water quality parameters. In his class, he emphasizes the use of sensors and modern water quality measurement, technologies he sees beginning to dominate the industry. He would like to see the class incorporate live-streaming data and the analyses to turn that data into decisions.
Sue Lowry – Executive Director, Interstate Council on Water Policy Ms. Lowry was named ICWP executive director in 2018. Prior to that, she served for many years as a Board member for the ICWP, in her capacity as the Administrator for the Interstate Streams Division of the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office in Cheyenne, WY. Upon retirement from the State Engineer’s Office, she formed Avocet Consult, LLC to continue working on water policy and water resources topics.
The ICWP was founded in 1959 to promote integrated water resources management and to engage in water resource and water quality issues. Its members consist of state water resource management agencies, interstate river basin commissions and other water resource management entities from across the U.S.
Eric Robinson - Application Development Manager Eric holds a degree in environmental science. For five years he managed field crews sampling for toxic algae blooms in coastal Florida, and he has worked in the water quality industry for more than a decade. He currently serves as In-Situ’s Application Development Manager for surface water.