By Madelyn Petta
Can mud change the world? Maybe not, but it can tell us what’s happening around it.
Geologist and Environmental Science instructor David Kluesner spoke for the third and final STEM seminar this quarter in STEM Building room 151 about his research in Florida on pollutants’ effects on rivers.
After a long-lived career in the oil industry, Kluesner now focuses on the micro-impacts of mid-ocean oil spills and construction on riverbed sediment. On the Caloosahatchee river in Southern Florida he said he and a friend sampled the riverbed sediment for a lab where they simulated the river’s crosscurrents to record the sediment. Kluesner said it took hours to filter out the sediment.
He said his goal was to study data points from different influences spiking such as movement of sediment by marine life known as bioturbation or nearby construction.
The next STEM seminar is April 13. All STEM seminars are in the STEM Building Digital Lounge, room 151, from noon to 1 p.m with deserts provided.
