Category: Classes

Assessing Water Quality on the Chicago River’s North Branch at West River Park

Saturday, Sept. 8th, was the first day of class for my Fall 2012 Sustainability Studies 220 Water seminar at Roosevelt University. Instead of staying inside our classroom all day, though, we took advantage of excellent late-summer weather here in Chicago to take an urban river parklands adventure to Chicago’s North Side. From RU’s campus in downtown Chicago, we caught the Brown Line L train to a quiet and charmingly at-ground-level station near the end of the line (Francisco, in case you’re curious), where we walked through a quiet residential neighborhood just south of Lawrence Avenue to the entrance of Ronan Park. This is one of several parklands that border the North Branch of the River as it winds its way south through the city.

The North Branch of the Chicago River, as seen from the Ronan Park Bird Sanctuary trail
(M. Bryson)

We met up with naturalist-educators Mark Hauser and Claire Snyder from the environmental organization Friends of the Chicago River, who led us on a hike through the community-established Bird Sanctuary in Ronan Park — a charming linear greenspace that hugs the river and provides excellent wildlife habitat as well as soil stabilization with a lush landscape of native grasses and wildflowers as well as trees.

Hiking along the Ronan Park trail, through its restored Bird Sanctuary along the west bank of the river.
(M. Bryson)

Immediately north of Ronan Park, we entered West River Park, a multi-use parkland which provides numerous recreation activities as well as open space and excellent public access to the river. Prominent here is the confluence of the North Branch, which heads north for several miles out of the city and toward the Wisconsin border; and the North Shore Channel, a canal that was dug between 1907 and 1910 to provide a connection between Lake Michigan and the North Branch, thus increasing the flow and improving the water quality of the latter.

This confluence is an excellent place to examine the water quality of the river, for we were able to take a chemical and biological profile above and below the dam/spillway on the North Branch, which is just upstream from the North Shore Channel’s mouth. We measured key chemical indicators such as temperature, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, and phosphate; and wading into the river with D-nets to scrape up mud in search of macroinvertebrates (worms, leeches, crawfish, snails, damselfly nymphs, etc.).

In West River Park, north of Argyle Ave, looking north toward the dam/spillway on the North Branch. This wide area is the confluence of the N. Branch (which heads upstream to the upper left of this photo) and the North Shore Channel, built between 1907 and 1910 to provide an influx of Lake Michigan water (from Wilmette) for the North Branch.
(M. Bryson)

Above the dam, where the water travels downstream from the North Branch’s long journey southward through forest preserves and residential areas in the northern suburbs and North Side of the city, the water quality rated a “D” according to our chemical profile, mainly due to high suspended solids, high phosphates levels from polluted stormwater runoff, and low dissolved oxygen concentrations. Here our biological profile was slightly better (rated as “fair”) since we found a decent diversity of organisms, some of which are not highly pollution tolerant.

Sampling the macro-invertebrates living in the sediment and along the margins of the river, north of the spillway. This provides a biological sample of the river’s biodiversity and water quality, since different species of macro-inverts have different tolerance levels for pollution.
(M. Bryson)

Downstream of the dam, the chemical analysis results were a little better (“C-“), since the spillway served to oxygenate the water and significantly raise the dissolved oxygen value, which is critical for aquatic life to flourish. This was despite somewhat higher nitrate levels, which likely result from the wastewater effluent inputs to the Channel north of here, at the MWRD’s O’Brien wastewater treatment plant just north of Howard St.

The spillway is a great place for fishing, whether you’re a human or one of three heron species we saw that day (great blue, green, and black-crowned night).
(M. Bryson)

Both the North Branch and North Shore Channel are impacted by polluted stormwater runoff in the city and suburbs (which includes excess pesticides and chemical fertilizers applied to residential and commercial lawn properties, as well as from the ten golf courses within 20 miles of our sampling site); normal wastewater effluent discharges (where treated water nevertheless contains high bacterial levels, since effluent is not yet disinfected in a final stage of treatment, as in all other major US cities); and periodic combined sewage overflow (CSO) events, which occur when during a rainstorm the sewage system reaches capacity and untreated wastewater is released into the waterways to prevent sewage system back-ups into people’s homes.

Beyond learning to use the water sampling equipment and calculating a quick chemical and biological profile of the For images and notes from our trip, this trip allowed us to examine the way people interact with the river in an urban parkland, as well a discuss the river’s history of transformation here in Chicago. For more images from our day, see this annotated slideshow of photos; and check out the data from our sampling work at the link below.

West River Park Water Quality Data 2012-09-08 (pdf)

Looking southward on this scenic stretch of the North Branch, in West River Park.
(M. Bryson)

Accelerate 77 Share Fair Celebrates Sustainability in Chicago

Looking for a cool sustainability-themed event this coming weekend? Here you go: this Saturday from 10am to 4pm at Truman College on Chicago’s North Side, the Institute for Cultural Affairs will host the “Accelerate 77” Share Fair that brings together people and organizations working on all kinds of sustainability initiatives in each of Chicago’s 77 community areas.

Back in the spring of 2012, my SUST 210 Honors seminar at Roosevelt’s Chicago Campus did on-the-ground research in small groups in 5 different communities in Chicago: Fuller Park, Rogers Park, Little Village, and the North and South halves of the Loop. Their research added to that of students at several other Chicago colleges and universities, as students fanned out across the city to learn about urban sustainability initiatives and meet people from every walk of life, in every neighborhood of the city.

As the ICA Share Fair’s website describes, there’s a ton going on this Saturday:

Exhibitors: Come Meet Your Neighborhood Assets

The main room will be filled with representatives of all 77 communities of Chicago. These representatives have been identified as leaders in their respective communities, but a leader can be embodied in many ways. We work towards realising a sustainable Chicago, the foundations of which rely on economic, cultural, and social sustainability. You can expect to see examples of urban agriculture, green technology, and alternative energy, but then also so much more! Each leading program has their own methodology in how to encorporate/encourage environmentalism in their neighborhoods. True to the richness of the Chicago community, we expect a lot of different ideas to come out in our exchange of best practices. To see a full listing of the organizations that have signed up already check out the See Who’s Coming page. 

Connection Seminars: Q&A with Citywide Stakeholders 

In “breakout rooms” located outside of the main fair space, there will be representatives of programs which work all across Chicago. If you’re part of an organization, these will be great opportunities to learn more about exciting programs across the city and gain some “how to” at the same time.  To see a full listing of the organizations and topics covered, head over to the Connection Seminars listing page.

The Reception: Celebrate and Learn

After the Share Fair, a reception will be held at the ICA, located at 4750 N Sheridan Ave. Come and learn about Chicago’s very own GreenRise and help us celebrate the Institute of Cultural Affairs’ 50th anniversary. To learn more about the GreenRise tours, head over to the GreenRise Tours page.

During the spring semester of 2012, the 20 students in Prof. Mike Bryson’s SUST 210 Sustainable Future honors class conducted a semester-long community-based research project in conjunction with the ICA’s effort during 2011 and 2012 to map and describe as many sustainability initiatives and assets as possible in each one of Chicago’s 77 official Community Areas. Two RU students, international studies major Dylan Amlin and sustainability studies major Ngozi Okoro,  pursued summer internships with the ICA by conducting community research in several South Side neighborhoods.  As Dylan notes about the Share Fair:

It will be an excellent networking opportunity for students as well, and we could really use some youthful energy in the room. If students are interested in volunteering, they can contact me directly asap (dylanamlin@gmail.com). They also can go to the Accelerate 77 website to learn more about the project and to register.

Join Dylan, Ngozi, and lots of other students, faculty, sustainability professionals, grassroots activists, and area officials for this singular event!

Last Workday this Spring at Chicago Lights Urban Farm

Last Wednesday, May 2nd, was a bittersweet day in my SUST 350 Service & Sustainability class at RU. Since March 21st we had convened every Wednesday afternoon at 3pm at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood of Chicago. For our first hour we’d discuss the week’s readings and then have student-led “farm reports” on urban agricultural operations across the US. Then we’d put away our books and grab some tools to work from 4-5:30pm doing whatever farm chores needed doing that day. During this latter part of our class sessions, we labored side by side with several Growing Power staff and the neighborhood teens who work as Youth Corps job interns here during the school year and summer.

Front, L to R: Maria, Beeka, Allison, Natasha. 2nd row: Brian, Lauralyn, Mary, Alex, Eleanor, Josh, Steph,Toni. Back row: Terry, Joe, Sean, Steven, Conor, Martinez, Jonathan. Not pictured from RU: Keith and Mike (Photo by M. Bryson)

In the process we began to get the rudiments of a working knowledge of the half-acre urban farm here at the corner of Hudson Street and Chicago Avenue in this rapidly gentrifying neighborhood that is still home to many poor and working-class citizens, despite the demolition of most of the Cabrini-Green public housing in the area. (The original Cabrini rowhouses remain just to the north of the farm, though their fate is uncertain.) We learned how to turn over and then utilize compost; appreciated the basic mechanisms of vermicomposting (using worms to break down organic waste and produce nutrient-rich soil consisting of worm castings); mastered the art of handling a power drill; and depended upon the value of teamwork when it comes to weeding, hoeing, raking, shoveling and hauling wood chips, repairing compost bins, and picking up litter.

The Compost Crew (for that day, anyway) — L to R: Josh, Sean, Mike, and Joe (photo by A. Mayes)

The past couple of weeks, workers at the farm (including us) have been chipping away at a major construction project: a new hoop house to accompany the one now standing near the middle of the farm property.

Last week we made major strides toward that goal, as we helped finish the wooden foundation/frame of the structure and secured it to the ground. Some of us put together lengths of strong but lightweight aluminum poles (itself a simple yet tricky process to get right without injuring a finger), then cut them to length.

Brian Ellis, one of Growing Power’s urban farmers and a super-cool guy. Stick with this man and you’ll learn stuff!
Maria, Conor, and Lauralyn secure the two pieces of aluminium pipe for each of the hoops. This is tricky work getting those self-tapping metal screws into a rounded surface cleanly and securely! (photo by A. Mayes)
L to R: Alex, Brian, Eleanor, Lauralyn, Monique, Mike (in background), Terry, Conor, and Steven. You can see here how the pole comes out bent from the jig. (Photo by A. Mayes)

Finally, in the waning minutes of our semester in the late afternoon, we bent two of the poles using a special wooden jig in a well-choreographed ballet of pushing and steadying, and then mounted one of the hoops at the west end of the house. A great cheer went up when this happened, and I felt it a fitting moment on which to conclude our semester: for even as we enjoyed this sense of accomplishment, we knew that the job was far from done. As we said our goodbyes and dispersed in separate directions back to school or home, our Growing Power Youth Corps compatriots at the farm began taking over right where we left off.

Looking west at the site of the new hoop house, as we set the first pole. This is a fitting coda for our semester, suggesting future journeys and work yet to be completed. There’s something wonderful about making an arch at an urban farm in the middle of Chicago — the great 19th century urban center of what was then called the West, according to environmental historian William Cronon in his 1991 book “Nature’s Metropolis.” (Photo by A. Mayes)

That’s yet another great thing about this service learning experience: it doesn’t end here, even though our spring semester is nearly over. The Chicago Lights Urban Farm welcomes volunteers every Saturday from 10am to 4pm, and I know many of us will return to this friendly and welcoming spot to do some more work with our new friends. As for me, I’m already looking forward to setting up v2 of this course next spring, for it’s the hope of the Sustainability Studies program at Roosevelt to cultivate a long-term relationship with the Chicago Lights and Iron Street urban farms here in the City of Big Shoulders — now one of the great urban agricultural frontiers of North America.

Special thanks go to many people, including:

  • Natasha Holbert, director of the Chicago Lights Urban Farm, who was instrumental in the planning for SUST 350, and who provided valuable insights and enthusiastic guidance to us every step of the way;
  • Lauralyn Clausen (Education and Curriculum Coordinator and Youth Corps Co-Instructor) Brian Ellis (Youth Corps Co-Instructor), Malcolm Evans (Farm Assistant), and Laurel Simms (Chicago Production/Marketing Manager and Farm Educator) — the Growing Power urban farmers in Chicago who led our daily work sessions, imparted their knowledge, and made us feel welcome from the get-go;
  • The Youth Corps job interns (Deja, Henry, Ivory, Jonathan, Kyra, Monique, Quentin, Rayshard, Rayshaun, Sam, and Toni) with whom we worked, joked, and took some cool field trips to Milwaukee and the Chicago River;
  • Amy, our phenomenal tour guide at Growing Power’s Milwaukee farm site;
  • Erika Allen, director of Growing Power’s Chicago operations across the city and National Outreach Manager, whose visionary leadership is helping make Chicago a greener and healthier city;
  • The faculty and staff of Roosevelt University’s Mansfield Institute, who supported this course will a Transformational Service Learning grant;
  • And last but not least, my students who were curious enough to sign up for the inaugural section of this class, who worked hard inside and outside of the classroom from Week one through fourteen, and who had no problem handling worms or getting dirty (in fact, I think they rather enjoyed it!)

Here’s to a splendid growing season this summer and a record-breaking harvest next fall!

For an up-close look at our last workday at the farm this spring, check out this online photo album of our last workday (pictures by SUST major Allison Mayes and yours truly).

Paddling Bubbly Creek: Water, Food, and Urban Ecology

This past Sunday, 29 April 2012, students from my SUST 350 Service & Sustainability class joined staff and student interns from Growing Power‘s Chicago Lights Urban Farm for a canoe trip on Bubbly Creek, aka the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River. This was the second of two field trip experiences for RU undergrads and Growing Power Youth Corps job interns who have been working together in the Spring of 2012 at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm. (The first was a road trip to Growing Power’s original farm site on Milwaukee’s Northwest Side.)

Paddling south on Bubbly Creek (M. Bryson)

Led by Friends of the Chicago River, this outdoor adventure introduced RU undergrads and Cabrini-Green teens and young adults to river ecology, wastewater policy, Chicago history, and urban biodiversity — not to mention the no-less-important skills of teamwork and good paddling technique. Most of the day’s participants had limited to no canoeing experience prior to our adventure; but they learned quickly with the help of a pre-launch paddling lesson by our Friends of the Chicago River guides, and by the end of our 2.5 mile journey had proven themselves adept at handling a canoe on one of America’s most infamous urban waterways. Talk about baptism by fire . . . er, wastewater effluent!

This industrialized and heavily polluted channel on Chicago’s South Side got its name years ago from the methane gas that bubbled up from the bacterial decomposition of organic waste on the creek’s bottom. Bubbly Creek was the notorious dumping ground for the Chicago Stockyards for decades. Things were so bad in 1909 that a chicken was photographed walking across the sludgy surface of the river.

Paddling south on Bubbly Creek; to the right (west) are 34th Street and the Iron Street Farm (M. Bryson)

The South Fork’s revolting environmental history inspired me to take urban sustainability seminar students to the waterway as our capstone field trip back in May of 2009 — and I’ve been canoeing Bubbly Creek with my students ever since.

The mild spring weather, sluggish current, and lack of boat traffic made for exceptional paddling down the one-and-a-quarter-mile length of Bubbly Creek this past Sunday. Our view was one of arresting images and stark contrasts. Along some stretches, vegetation reclaimed the industrial riverbank. Elsewhere, pipes stuck out from concrete or steel embankments, water from area street-level drains trickling from their openings — a hint of the deluge that would ensue were it to rain. We floated slowly and quietly under massive railroad and highway bridges, the dim roar of traffic far above us.

Near the headwaters of Bubbly Creek; on our right is the massive Racine Avenue Pumping Station. Each of its eight pipes is 5 feet in diameter. This station pumps wastewater from this area of Chicago southwest to the MWRD's Stickney wastewater treatment plant -- the largest such facility in the world. In times of significant rainfall, these pumps reverse and pump untreated combined sewage into Bubbly Creek, where the water levels quickly rise three feet. (M. Bryson)

Visible evidence of pollution was everywhere — old plastic garbage bags hanging from trees; floating bottles and cans; the occasional used condom (nicknamed “Chicago River Whitefish” by jaded river veterans); and the infamous bubbles, still percolating up from the murky depths. At times the faint stench of sewage drifted over us.

Yet, we also saw encountered wildlife, including Canada geese, Mallard ducks, a juvenile red-tailed hawk, and a green heron (one of the three heron species native to Illinois). Tree swallows swooped over the water, hunting for insects, and red-winged blackbirds and white-throated sparrows sang lustily from the brush riverbanks. Although we didn’t see any that day, beavers are known to be active along the creek, despite its persistent pollution. Such observations provided a dramatic ecology lesson: while Bubbly Creek is still in rough shape, it has come a long way from its earlier environmental desecration.

A significant moments of our trip occurred as we paddled southward along an imposing, rusted metal retaining wall on the east bank of the river; to the west was a more vegetated riparian zone that ended at a chain link fence.

Malcolm, a longtime Growing Power Youth Corps intern on his first canoeing adventure, points to the Iron Street Farm with his paddle (M. Bryson)

The view itself was unremarkable, save for the fact that we knew what was on the other side of that fence, mostly hidden from view on the high bank: the Iron Street Farm, one of Growing Power’s urban farming operations in Chicago that occupies several acres of former industrial land just west of Bubbly Creek at the intersection of Iron and 34th Streets. With a large building that has been adapted and re-purposed for integrated indoor urban agriculture (aquaponics and vermicomposting) and a bike repair facility, as well as extensive grounds for several hoop houses and even more composting bins, Iron Street Farm represents a sophisticated 21st-century post-industrial refashioning of a 19th century industrial landscape.

Iron Street Farm, as seen from Bubbly Creek (M. Bryson)

And what of the connections between the water of the creek and the food growing enterprise along its west bank? They are many and various, as we discussed while “rafting up” our canoes at the southern terminus of Bubbly Creek, where we contemplated the urban ecology of stormwater runoff and combined sewage overflows while floating in the shadow of the massive Racine Avenue Pumping Station. Every drop of water that falls on the compost-enriched soil of Iron Street Farm not only is utilized by edible plants in food production, but also is diverted from the sewer system of the city, thus reducing the total amount of surface run-off that results (in times of sufficient precipitation) in the release of untreated sewage into Bubbly Creek and the many other channels of the Chicago Area Waterway System.

Hoop Houses at Iron Street Farm; Bubbly Creek is just past the fence to the right (M. Bryson)

Beyond this systematic analysis, though, was a more emotional revelation about urban waterways that I felt may have occurred, tacitly but undeniably, amongst us on our trip — one that runs counter to the fears of the uninitiated that scary creatures lurk in the deeps, or that urban rivers are degraded beyond reclamation. Given the chance to experience a river, up close and personal, people of all ages respond to its rough and imperfect charms.

If we can learn to love and value the likes of Bubbly Creek — if we can see that a channelized, polluted, and long-neglected waterway has the potential to become, well, a river again — then just about anything’s possible.

Ivory (foreground) and Deja, two of the Growing Power Youth Corps interns who work at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm (M. Bryson)
Our group combined folks from Roosevelt University's SUST 350 Service & Sustainability class, Growing Power staff and Youth Corps interns, and guides from Friends of the Chicago River (M. Bryson)

Want to see more? Check out these annotated slideshows of our RU-Growing Power canoe trip on Bubbly Creek as well as the Iron Street Farm.

SUST 350’s Workday at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm

This past Wednesday was the third week for my SUST 350 Service & Sustainability class doing work at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm in Cabrini-Green. We help out on a variety of chores and projects at the farm on our Wed afternoon work sessions. Last week we pulled weeds, sifted compost, and harvested thousands of pumpkin seeds from some of last year’s leftover pumpkins. This week we sifted more compost, pulled weeds, and began work on constructing the 2nd hoop house for the farm. Here are some photos I took during that day’s activities.

Our class sessions on Wednesdays start with a discussion from 3-4pm, during which students give short “Farm Reports” on different urban farm operations around the country, and the class as a whole discusses that week’s assigned readings from Lorraine Johnson’s excellent book, City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing. Then, we get together with Growing Power’s Youth Corps kids from the neighborhood, do a few warm-up activities for exercise and community-bonding, and hit the chore list for that day. Our work session ends at 5:30 so students can get to their next class — but most of us are reluctant to stop because it’s so much fun . . . especially when you can work together getting your hands dirty for a good cause.

Here are a few photos from this week.

Josh gives his Farm Report at the picnic area, which doubles as our outside classroom.
Starting work on the farm's 2nd hoop house.
Rows of soil, built onsite from compost, sit atop the old basketball court -- ready for upcoming spring planting.
Steph (L) and Maria sift compost from the worm bin. The result is beautiful, rich, fine soil collected in the tub below the screen; the leftovers are added back into other composting bins.
Watering the compost bins at bit now and again helps speed the decomposition process; these bins can produce good compost in 6-9 months. Not your typical agricultural landscape, eh?

Growing Power’s Urban Farm in Milwaukee

For its first field trip experience this spring, my SUST 350 Service & Sustainability class on urban agriculture, social justice, and community development ventured up Lake Michigan’s western shoreline to the great city of Milwaukee. Our destination was the flagship urban farm operation of Growing Power, the non-profit urban ag enterprise established in 1995 by pro basketball player-turned-urban farmer Will Allen.

Growing Power's flagship farm location in Milwaukee

Since the mid-2000s, Growing Power has expanded its operations to several sites in Chicago, including the Chicago Lights Urban Farm (CLUF) in Cabrini-Green, which is the service learning partner organization / work site for our SUST 350 class this semester.

Our objective in visiting Growing Power’s Milwaukee location was to get a hands-on introduction to one of the most celebrated sustainable urban farm operations in the US. We began our day with a picnic lunch at our urban farm site in Chicago, where we broke bread with CLUF/Growing Power staff and Youth Corps high school student interns. Then, we piled into a rented school bus and headed up to Growing Power’s site on Milwaukee’s Northwest Side, where we got a superb and information-packed 90-minute tour of the entire two-acre facility by Amy, a tour facilitator and full-time employee of the farm.

Growing Power is an example of a hybrid urban farm that is focused on developing sustainable urban farming practices in the production of vegetables (especially baby greens salad mixes), fish (primarily tilapia), animal products (goat milk and meat, eggs and poultry), and compost.

Growing trays in greenhouse #1

Their food is sold to area restaurants, at the Growing Power on-site farm stand, and at various “Market Basket” locations in Milwaukee where fresh food is hard to find. All of their growing soil is produced on-site by a sophisticated and large-scale composting system, which includes an impressive vermiculture operation that uses worms to process plant “waste” into nutrient-rich soil. Growing Power is a pioneer is using closed-loop cultivation systems in which wastewater from the aquaponic fish-growing tank flows through hydroponic plant beds, where various vegetables and flowers take up the excess nutrients from the water; the cleansed water is then returned to the aquaponics tanks, to start the cycle again.

Here, perfect soil is created by worms. Dirt is the great equalizer, the foundation of agriculture -- no matter one's race, color, or creed.
Aquaponic tank, replenished by water filtered by the hydroponically-grown plants in the upper level

The farm also harvests renewable energy from several solar panel arrays, and uses the heat bio-generated from interior composting bins to warm its several large greenhouses and significantly reduce heating costs during the cold Wisconsin winters.

For a more detailed account of our group’s tour, check out the field trip notes taken by Maria Cancilla of our SUST 350 class at the pdf link below and the photos I took of our tour. Also see Growing Power’s website for a wealth of information about the farm as well as virtual tours of its facility.

Growing Power Tour Notes 2012-03-24 (pdf)

Growing Power’s Milwaukee and Chicago facilities are prime examples, but by no means the only ones, of the burgeoning urban farming movement in cities and suburbs across North America. Students in this inaugural section of SUST 350 in Roosevelt’s Sustainability Studies program are working on a community-based research project about the Cabrini-Green neighborhood’s history, present assets, and future prospects. Two-thirds of our class meetings take place at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm in Cabrini-Green, a half-acre urban farm that began as a small community garden built atop a derelict basketball court in 2002. Here we are working side-by-side with Youth Corps teenage interns from the neighborhood to work compost, weed planting beds, harvest seeds from last year’s crops, build a new hoop house, and do whatever else needs to be done in the farm’s early spring work season.

This farm is an inspiring example of how sustainable agriculture in inner-city neighborhoods can contribute to positively to the physical environment, economic activity, educational opportunities, and social fabric of its community. Its example can be a spark for imagining other urban farming projects that could be implemented in underserved communities throughout the greater Chicago region — such as my hometown of Joliet, IL, located 40 miles southwest of Chicago’s Loop.

Vermiculture compost bins inside a greenhouse at Growing Power
The production of compost at Growing Power's 2-acre site is incredible; we called this pile "Mount Compost"
Our group from Roosevelt University and the Chicago Lights Urban Farm

Internship Opportunity at Alliance for a Greener South Loop

Looking for a cool sustainability-themed internship opportunity here in downtown Chicago? Want to hone your research and writing skills in a professional context, while furthering the progressive goals of a local environmental organization? The Alliance for a Greener South Loop (AGSL), an environmental advocacy non-profit dedicated to improving and encouraging green practices in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, is seeking an intern this winter/spring to work on the following:

  • Research/document local resources to support green efforts (e.g., buying electricity in Illinois’s open market)
  • Writing up best practices locally (business, residential, and/or institutional) using input from AGSL award applications and further research as needed
  • Answering questions received by residents, organizations, and companies about green practices such as green roof planning/installation, wind turbines, and composting
  • Generating community engagement through developing online surveys about, for example, green purchasing attitudes and patterns about paper, electricity, etc.
  • Developing ideas to support individual and collective behavioral change and creating a voice to influence local policy decisions related to sustainability

Application Deadline: 1 February 2012

Internship Requirements:

The application process for this internship is competitive, as strong writing, research, time management, and deadline-meeting skills are a must. Knowledge about current environmental issues and sustainability practices (such as those covered in RU’s SUST curriculum) is important, as well. Experience analyzing data and/or developing information for websites is desirable, though not required. Current RU undergraduates may apply; preference is given to Sustainability Studies majors. Applicants should have sophomore standing, at least one SUST course with a grade of B or better, and a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA.

Workload / Hours / Academic Requirements:

The selected intern will be supervised by Ms. Gail Merritt of the AGSL, with academic support/direction by Professor Mike Bryson in the Sustainability Studies program. The basic work requirement is a minimum of 10 hours per week for twelve weeks (120 hours total) of on-task work at the AGSL, some of which may be completed off-site (depending upon the intern’s school/work schedule). Other requirements include submitting weekly timesheets to the on-site supervisor and faculty instructor; holding 2-3 meetings with the instructor to discuss the progress of the internship; keeping an informal weekly journal of notes and reflections summarizing that week’s work; and submitting a final research paper (7-10pp) that synthesizes reflections on the internship experience within the context of a sustainability issue(s) of particular interest to the student.

This internship is unpaid but may be taken for SUST 350 course credit (Service & Sustainability, 3sh, pre-req ENG 102). SUST majors may use this class as a major requirement, relevant elective, or general elective; non-majors may use it as elective credit. The successful applicant may register for SUST 350 as a “course by arrangement” for the Spring, Summer, or Fall 2012 semesters. Regardless, the internship would begin in early February, 2012.

Application Deadline: 1 February 2012

To apply, send an email application to Professor Mike Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu) that includes the following:

  • Your name, contact information, student ID, RU major, and previously completed SUST courses (semester and grade noted)
  • Personal statement indicating your interest in the internship experience (500 words max)
  • Work availability (days/times), assuming a ten-hour/week commitment with flexible scheduling possible
  • A writing sample of two graded RU essays, with class/instructor/date noted (attached to your email as Word or PDF documents)

For More Information

Contact Mike Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu; 312.281.3148 office; 815.557.3153 cell) and/or check out the Alliance for a Greener South Loop website.

Debut of the Water in Schaumburg Project

This past fall semester, students in my Sustainability Studies 220 Water seminar at Roosevelt University’s Schaumburg Campus collaborated on a semester-long research endeavor, the Water in Schaumburg Project. Small groups of students researched water resource issues related to water supply, wastewater treatment, wetlands, and the Salt Creek watershed — all within the context of the Village of Schaumburg and surrounding communities. They wrote essays, gathered images, and collected/annotated internet resources on their four key topics; and after synthesizing and editing their work, I uploaded it to the Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future website — a collaborative endeavor that originated in the spring of 2011 with my SUST 210 Sustainable Future class.

Congratulations to the members of SUST 220 for their hard work on this project! And coming up in spring 2012 — a transportation-focused project from my online SUST 210 class.

Walking through Wetlands: Conservation and Restoration in the Upper Des Plaines River Watershed

My SUST 220 Water class at RU took its third field excursion on Saturday, Oct. 29th, to the Des Plaines River Wetland Demonstration Project (DPRWDP) located in northern Lake County near the town of Wadsworth, IL. Our group took a walking tour through part of the experimental wetlands of the site, much of which is land owned by the Lake County Forest Preserve and managed by staff from Wetlands Research, Inc. The goals of our visit were to learn about wetland ecology and restoration practices, understand the mechanics and implications of wetland mitigation, and assess the water quality of the two streams that run through the wetland complex — the Des Plaines River and Mill Creek.

Des Plaines River Wetland Demonstration Project site (M. B. Radeck)

Our tour was led by Jill Kostel, senior environmental engineer with the Wetlands Initiative, and Kathy Paap, an ecologist and former site manager here at the DPRWDP. Weather-wise, this day was a glorious late October specimen; temps were mild and the wind was low, which allowed us to conduct our water sampling in maximum comfort and enjoy the exercise afforded by an autumnal hike.

We started our three-hour tour with a brief orientation to the site by Jill and Kathy near the double-wide trailer that serves as their on-site office, then got back into a few cars for a short ride to a downstream site along the Des Plaines in one of the wetland restoration parcels that is managed within the DPRWDP.

Riffle dam at DPRWDP (M. B. Radeck)

This mitigation bank site is called Neal Marsh and covers 54 acres. Here a “riffle dam” was constructed a few years to oxygenate the water and provide enhanced hydrology for the wetlands in this area.

Next we returned to the main site’s parking area, then took a mile hike down a pathway that wound through several experimental wetlands on the northern end of the restoration site. We made a few stops along the way to discuss the impact of wildlife on the wetlands (e.g., beaver), the process by which water flow is controlled through the system, the kinds of experiments one can perform in such an “outdoor laboratory,” the threat of invasive species to wetlands (e.g., common carp), the ecological benefits of wetlands to wildlife and humans, and the process of wetland mitigation.

At the mid-point of our journey, we stopped at two nearby sites to take some water samples. The first was on Mill Creek, which enters the wetland preserve from the west and carries wastewater effluent from a sewage treatment facility as well as run-off from about a 20+ square mile area.

Mill Creek (M. B. Radeck)

Then, we walked a bit further to a bridge that arched over the confluence of Mill Creek with the Des Plaines River, which flows in from the north and receives surface run-off from a mosaic of suburban development that is buffered to some extent by the riparian zone of the Lake County Forest Preserve. There we could observe the confluence as well as take water samples directly from the Des Plaines. We worked at streamside in small groups to analyze the samples using the Hach Surface Waters chemistry lab as well as the portable Urban Waters LaMotte kit. You can view a summary of our results here: Water Quality Results for DPRWDP 29 Oct 2011 (pdf).

Images of our trip were captured by Mary Beth Radeck, a SUST major at RU and member of our 220 Water class. See this slideshow for a whole lot more.

SUST 350 Course Preview for Spring 2012

This coming spring semester I will be offering the inaugural section of SUST 350 Service and Sustainability at the Chicago Campus. The specific course theme is  Urban Farming, Community Development, and Social Justice.

  • Title/number: SUST 350 Service and Sustainability (section L10)
  • Semester offered: Spring 2012 (initial offering)
  • Campus: Chicago
  • Day/time: Wed 3-5:30pm
  • Pre-req: UWR
  • Text: Lorraine Johnson, City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing (Greystone, 2010, paper, ISBN 9781554655190) — on order at the RU bookstore

SUST majors and minors may take this class to fulfill an upper-level SUST requirement, but 350 also is open to students at large who need a general education course or desire elective credit.

Introduction to the Course

SUST 350 focuses on one of sustainability’s “Three Es” — social Equity — within the broad context of Environmental stewardship and Economic development.  Students will learn about one of the most important components of sustainability — food production and consumption — in the context of urban neighborhoods and ecosystems.

Chicago Lights Urban Farm (M. Bryson)

By doing hands-in-the-dirt labor at Chicago Lights Urban Farm on the city’s near-North Side, students will gain direct knowledge of contemporary organic/urban agricultural systems as well as learn about pressing urban social justice issues such as food deserts, gentrification, pollution, environmental racism, and persistent poverty. Initial class meetings through February will be at RU’s Chicago Campus, while subsequent class meetings will take place at the farm.

Once established at the farm site in mid-March, Roosevelt students will work side-by-side with Cabrini-Green neighborhood youth in a unique reciprocal learning opportunity. Participants in the Chicago Lights Youth Corps program (14-21 age range) work as job trainees at the farm 9 hours/week during the school year and 20 hours/week during the summer.

Compost Bins at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm (M. Bryson)

They acquire skills in urban agricultural production (composting, soil management, seedbed planning, hydroponics, organic pest management, harvesting, etc.) and economy (packaging, marketing, distribution, and sales). To the extent that Roosevelt students are newcomers to these activities, they will be learning skills from the Youth Corps kids as well as from the urban farming experts.

An urban farm is about food, but so much more besides. The Cabrini-Green community is an economically stressed neighborhood that has gone through dramatic and wrenching changes as high-rise public housing has been demolished, residents have been displaced within and without the community, and gentrification proceeds at a rapid pace — even as crime and poverty persist. Here, an urban farm is a source of freshly grown, organic produce; a training ground for local youth in need of practical job skills; a stop valve in the Cradle-to-Prison pipeline; a gathering place for people of all ages in the community for physical exercise, informal education, and social events (such as the annual Fall Harvest Festival held on-site); a demonstration site for sustainable agricultural techniques; a model of economic development on a local, sustainable scale; and a means of reconnecting urban folk to the natural world. More generally, in urban areas starved for jobs, green space, safe outdoor gathering places, and fresh quality food, these small-scale farms productively and powerfully address the need for social equity and progressive change.

Partner Organizations: Chicago Lights Urban Farm and Growing Power

The Chicago Lights Urban Farm is one wing of the Chicago Lights Community Outreach Organization on Chicago’s near-North Side, and is located at 444 W. Chicago Avenue, the south end of the Cabrini-Green neighborhood.

Cabrini-Green row houses as seen from the north edge of the Chicago Lights Urban Farm (M. Bryson)

Formerly known as the Chicago Avenue Community Garden, it began in 2003 as a modest collection of raised-bed planters covering the cracked blacktop of an abandoned basketball playground. Since then, the farm has expanded and diversified its operations with the help of Growing Power, a nationally-recognized urban farm initiative based in Milwaukee that has established satellite operations in several Chicago neighborhoods (including Cabrini-Green, Altgeld Gardens, Grant Park South, and Bridgeport). The mission of the farm is to “empower . . . youth and community residents in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood to have increased economic opportunities through access to organic produce, nutritional education, and work force training” (Chicago Lights “Urban Farm”).

Field Trips in Urban Ecology

SUST 350 Service and Sustainability provides an ideal context for field-based learning experiences that connect progressive social/environmental action to sustainable community development. While the Chicago Lights Urban Farm itself is a quintessential example of such a field experience, a selection of well-planned day trips to other sites will broaden that learning experience for RU students as well as provide a rare opportunity for the farm’s Youth Corps participants to leave the confines of their home neighborhood, see other parts of the region they have little to no familiarity with, deepen their understanding of urban ecology, and personally connect with the varied and surprisingly engaging forms of the region’s urban nature. In this expression of reciprocal learning, RU undergrads and Youth Corps students will be learning together in the context of adventurous new experiences, a process necessitating team-work and producing a profound sense of personal accomplishment.

Planned field trips tentatively include a tour of urban farms sites in Chicago, the Growing Power flagship farm in Milwaukee, the South Branch of the Chicago River, and/or the Indiana Dunes. See this page for accounts of recent student field trips in my SUST courses.