It's Water Week at UMD; Sustainability a Key Concern
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DULUTH - In the latest edition of College Connection, we take you to the University of Minnesota Duluth where professors and students are learning and working to keep our water sustainable, as FOX 21's Dan Hanger reports.
It's Water Week at UMD -- a time to show off and raise awareness about the college's focus on economic and environmental realities while creating sustainable solutions.
Andrea Crouse is a graduate at UMD who is working with the college's Natural Resources Research Institute.
"So not only are we studying the water quality, but we look at how we can live on this piece of land we have here most effectively, to protect those water resources," Crouse said.
The institute basically finds ways to put waste to good use for businesses, just like a countertop make from taconite waste from the mines that's transformed into use for a countertop company.
Minnesota Sea Grant is another partner with the University of Minnesota System that addresses problems with the state's coastal area, like water quality and climate change.
"It's hard to live here and not appreciate Lake Superior and be concerned about Lake Superior," said Dee Angradi, a program analyst for Sea Grant.
Angradi says UMD is a huge part of the research process to create innovative solutions to very complex environmental problems that affect us right here at home.
"You know, understanding the watershed and the impact of people's actions on the watershed and sustainable development, stopping the spread of aquatic invasive species," Andradi went on to explain.
It's an approach to research and education that's creating students with a science-based understanding of environment issues to help create a healthier future.
"We feel without a sustainable environment, we won't have a strong economy, so those two things work tandem," Crouse said.
