During the Industrial Revolution, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania was famously known for its mass manufacturing of aluminum, glass, petroleum, and steel, and attendant pollutants. During this time, Pittsburgh became a commercial and industrial powerhouse due to the efficiency of the factories in charge of the manufacturing. Since the city is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River, Monongahela River, and Ohio River, copious amounts of water were available for industrial use, transportation use, and unfortunately dumping. The post-Industrial Revolution led to the decimation of the environment, including the waterways. Today, Pittsburgh is actively trying to clean up the area while striving for a greener future. Although most people are attracted to the city for the food, museums, hospitals, and sport teams, Dr. Brady Porter was drawn to the Pittsburgh area because of the streams and their polluted past. Dr. Porter, an Associate Professor at Duquesne University, chose the Pittsburgh area because of the close connection between the three rivers and the city. He believed that it was an intriguing location to conduct his research concerning population biology of fish and aquatic habitat restoration. Before Dr. Porter came to the city, he received his B.A. in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University, and his Ph.D. in Zoology at The Ohio State University. He then completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Georgia in the Departments of Genetics and The Institute of Ecology. Now at the Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Duquesne, undergraduate and graduate students in the Biology and Environmental Sciences programs aid his research efforts while predominantly focusing on conservation biology of aquatic organisms. A typical field day for Dr. Porter and his assistants involve conducting water quality and organismal surveys in local streams and rivers. Although research is his predominate focus, Dr. Porter is responsible for teaching stream biology, ornithology and vertebrate anatomy to both undergraduate and graduate students. This combination of research and teaching is Dr. Porter’s favorite part about Duquesne University. He believes, “the school has a small-school feel while having the research opportunities of a much larger university.” Dr. Porter’s active involvement in aquatic habitat restoration and enthusiasm for cleaner rivers extend outside of his classes and labs at Duquesne University.

     Utilizing his expertise outside of the university, Dr. Porter is one of the scientists involved with 3 Rivers QUEST (3RQ). (This is a project developed by the West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) that monitors water in the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers). Dr. Porter believes his general interests and data collected from his classes is the reason he is a part of this mass monitoring. Specifically, during his stream biology class, water quality tests of Little Sewickley Creek were part of the curriculum. Over time, data demonstrated an increase in total dissolved salts, which immediately alarmed Dr. Porter. Following this trend, Dr. Porter and 4 other Duquesne professors joined the 3RQ project as monitors of the lower Allegheny River. Their responsibilities involve monthly sampling at 14 sites along the river. After retrieving the samples, the lower Allegheny team is then in charge of shipping their samples to Pace Analytical Lab and reporting the resulting data to 3RQ. Graduate students from the Environmental Sciences and Management Program use these data for thesis research projects. The 3RQ in return ensures there is financial support for sampling through outside funding. WVWRI has been successful at receiving a grant from the Colcom Foundation yearly to support sampling. Dr. Porter has gladly been participating in these efforts for the last 5 years. The project not only provides Dr. Porter with a “functional snapshot of all 3 rivers’ water chemistry,” but also unites a network of regional water quality professionals. Dr. Porter believes 3RQ is different than most mass monitoring efforts by noting,“Finding a group that can cover a large area with the cooperation we all have with one another is special.”

     In addition to his involvement in Duquesne and 3RQ, Dr. Porter continuously stays active in outside events on and off campus promoting biodiversity conservation. He spent most of his time performing ecological testing for biodiversity between 2006-2011at Murphy’s Bottom, an old sand and gravel extraction site in Freeport with the aim of implementing a recovery/reclamation plan to maximize the biodiversity in the 125-acre plot. He is the self-proclaimed Research Director for this piece of land that is used today for both research and educational purposes. He also applies his conservation knowledge of fishes to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. After serving on the PA Fish Technical Committee for the past 10 years, he was recently elected as the committee chair. This committee focuses on monitoring and listing endangered and threatened species of fishes in Pennsylvania. His support for biodiversity is also the backbone of the Ecology Club at Duquesne University. Under Dr. Porter’s supervision, students from many academic majors partake in activities like breeding salamander research, fish surveys and Christmas bird counts that all contribute to a larger conservation database.

     Today, Pittsburgh is slowly working towards a cleaner tomorrow. After the overuse and abuse of the waterways and natural environment during the Industrial Revolution, the public, researchers, and other activists are working together to reverse the damage. Dr. Brady Porter of Duquesne University contributes to this important effort through his own research, his classes, his involvement with 3RQ, and his push for biodiversity conservation to the public.

     Twenty-seven years of research and advising can be tiring, but not for Dr. John Stolz, the Director of the Center of Environmental Research and Education (CERE) at Duquesne University. Aside from being the Director of CERE, Dr. Stolz continues to find time to attend Steelers’ games, take piano lessons, and engage in four research projects. How does one master managing several roles and hobbies in life? Dr. Stolz believes his success stems from the guidance he received when he was a graduate student. His graduate professor helped Dr. Stolz find his passion in microbiology and acquire essential skills and techniques while studying the microbial mats of Northern Baja, California. This experience allowed Dr. Stolz to participate in several projects within his interests and eventually become the leader of CERE. During my interview with Dr. Stolz, I discovered his participation with the well-water quality project and 3 Rivers QUEST (3RQ) originated from simple backgrounds. When Dr. Stolz was preparing a lecture regarding hydraulic fracturing for a class, he became fascinated about the topic and researched the topic further. With the assistance of Don Volz from the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Stolz conducted hydraulic fracturing research and was shocked to find a lack of baseline studies and environmental assessments for hydraulic fracturing sites. These discoveries encouraged Dr. Stolz to create a water quality survey for households near gas drilling sites. The survey was a success and allowed Dr. Stolz to obtain funding from the Heinz Endowment grant and the Colcom Foundation to continue his well-water quality research. These grants also allow Dr. Stolz to fund two graduate students every semester to collect water samples from landowner households across Pennsylvania and analyze well-water quality. This gives the graduate students the opportunity to connect with citizens on a personal level and breakdown the social barrier between science and the public. Since 2012, the water quality project has successfully assessed the well-water quality for over 900 households. Coincidentally, in 2009 the citizens of Pittsburgh began focusing their concerns on the state’s water quality standards in response to the increased dissolved solids (TDS) in the rivers. Thus, Dr. Stolz expanded his passion to local water quality concerns. After conducting initial research, he was surprised to find reports of increased total organic carbon and the presence of bromide and trihalomethanes in Pittsburgh’s rivers. This changed the perspective of the project from a public matter to a personal concern. Stolz has been living in Pittsburgh for twenty-seven years, and appreciates the city too much just to ignore the growing distress in Pittsburgh. Dr. Stolz realized the concern was too large of an issue to take on alone, so he joined 3 Rivers QUEST as a principal investigator (PI) in 2012. After five years as a PI for 3RQ, Dr. Stolz has transitioned to be a co-Principal Investigator, with Dr. Stanley Kabala and then later Dr. Brady Porter as PI. The students have access to the YSI equipment for water quality analysis and Dr. Stolz remains in close contact with 3RQ faculty.

     When he is not conducting research, Dr. Stolz leads CERE’s environmental programs and assists students reach their goals in the ES and ESM programs. As Director of CERE, he has: increased the number of students enrolled in the ES major; increased faculty involvement with CERE; and expanded the available pool of research projects. He hopes that these accomplishments will soon allow CERE to develop into its own department. Until then, Dr. Stolz continues to lead and assist student research projects. These student research projects include the analysis of microbial metabolism from hydraulic fracturing impoundment sites and the discovery of a novel system for selenite respiration. Despite the several challenges his role can have, he only wishes that grant writing and obtaining funds for projects will be easier for his students. He is baffled that even some of the most fascinating projects students have do not receive funding and hopes this will alter in the future.