Muhlenberg athletes are spending the summer of 2025 enjoying fantastic experiences on campus, in their hometowns, and across the country.

Rising juniors Ava Lundy (pictured at right above, standing), an environmental science major and public health minor on the cross country and track and field teams, and Skyla Campisi (pictured at left, kneeling), a political science major and environmental science minor on the softball team, were part of a class that tested the health of local streams.

This summer, we spent four weeks on campus doing research for the environmental science and biology departments. We worked with Professor Karen Tuerk and Dr. Erika Iyengar, along with a group of 13 students. The goal of our project was to observe the health of our local streams by examining the aquatic macroinvertebrates that inhabit them.

We observed and took water samples from Little Cedar Creek, then picked through and counted all of the different species of macroinvertebrates we found. By seeing what types of organisms were found, we could determine the health of the stream, because certain organisms are sensitive to pollution and cannot survive in polluted waters. In addition, certain species, such as those that are invasive, thrive in unhealthy environments.

We also collected sediment from the bottom of the stream, and sorted all of the different gravel and rocks by mass. This is an indicator of stream health because a large percentage of finer sediment makes it more likely for invertebrates to suffocate, as opposed to a healthy environment, which has a variety of larger rocks.

Throughout these four weeks, we learned so many things inside and outside of the lab. We went into many different types of water, from shallow fast-moving streams to deep stand-still ponds. We also learned how to use a variety of lab equipment, and even got to drive the Muhlenberg vans to our collection sites.

Overall, we are so happy to have gotten to experience and be a part of research this summer. This will help prepare us for our future careers, specifically in the field of environmental science, working towards the protection and conservation of biodiversity.

These four weeks have given us lots of experience out in the field as well as in the lab. We are so happy to be a part of something that contributes to improving the health and biodiversity of our local community, and are excited not only to present this project in the fall, but also continue this research for summers to come. 

Doing something interesting this summer? Fill out this form to be included in our Summer Check-In series!