Draft 2 Duck Pond Group B

This topic submitted by JT, G Knight, & Benji ( westernpond@hotmail.com ) on 2/1/02 .

John-Thomas Crockett
Genevieve Knight
Benji Spinks

In our first draft we proposed a look at the social, cultural, and environmental issues of the Western Pond as an artificial landscape through three specific time periods past, present, and future. It is our intention to use a variety of techniques to gather empirical data that will speak to the question “What are the costs and benefits of the Western Pond?”. Beyond these observations we will collect specific experimental data that will compare and contrasts the pond to natural watersheds (specifically Harkers and Collins’ Runs).
We suspect that our experimental research will discover relatively low biodiversity in the pond as well as reduced sediment loads and amounts of prevalent geo-chemicals. We expect this will be due to the fact that the pond is in fact a man-made watershed.
Looking at how the Western Pond compares to natural watersheds also lends itself to investigating why Miami University chose the site it did for the pond. Where there topographic or aesthetic reasons for the pond’s location? What about where the pond is located makes it a good/ bad place for a watershed?
We hope to incorporate specific scientific data into our discussion of social and cultural issues surrounding the man-made landscapes and humanity’s larger relationship with nature.

Next Article
Previous Article
Return to the Topic Menu