Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT)
Our entire team traveled to Negaunee, MI to present to representatives and engineers from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). We shared what we have learned about the issue of nitrate runoff from rural agricultural areas (along highways and areas where road construction and re-seeding projects may take place) and offered our ideas as possible solutions. The ideas, based on the results from our grass and soil experimentation, included improving the grass seed mixes used in these seeding projects by incorporating native perennial grass species that have the capability to remove nitrates and other toxins. MDOT uses several seed mixes in their projects depending on the location and habitat but none of their seed mixes contain native perennial grass species. Perennials have many advantages over the annuals that mainly dominated their seed mixes such as their longer growing season and their ability to remove more nutrients such as nitrates from the ground over a longer period of time. Some of their seed mixes do contain perennials such as Kentucky Bluegrass and fescue, but they are not native to the Upper Peninsula. We proposed a better, alternative solution called Andropogan Gerardii or Big Bluestem. This is a native perennial that would extract nitrates and also remove other toxins from soil, provide greater ground cover, and coexist (in balance) with other native plant species.
You can see our MDOT presentation here
You can see our MDOT presentation here
Houghton Elementary School (3rd Grade Students)
Our team visited Houghton Elementary School (HES) to teach five third grade classes about the effects of nitrates on the environment as well as the importance of good water quality. We gathered some aquatic life including a frog, some fish, and several insect larvae from our school pond to show students, and explained that these sensitive creatures would not be able to survive if too many nitrates or other contaminants entered our water sources. We also engaged the students in a learning activity. Before presenting to the classes, some of us gave short interviews to two television companies-ABC 10 and WLUC TV 6.