Let’s meet Drew Cardis. She is a senior at Jefferson High School who plans to major in wildlife and fisheries resources at either WVU or University of Vermont and hopes to work in natural resource management.
Drew joined our Town Run Watershed’s Steering Committee in 2024 after participating in the Save our Streams & Stream Ecology Workshop last June at Morgan’s Grove Park, a fun, educational day in and around the Run! During the workshop she joined a group of a dozen volunteers and learned how to evaluate water quality of wade able streams by examining the stream habitat, conducting chemical analysis, and studying the biodiversity of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. As Callie Sams, program manager said at the conclusion of the workshop, “What an interesting stream and geology!”
After learning about the benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Town Run, Drew researched and presented a science project at the Jefferson High School Science Fair – “The Effect of Agricultural Pollution on Benthic Macroinvertebrates.” Hers was the winning entry! She was invited to participate in the WV State Science Fair competition where she also earned a blue ribbon for her impressive work! Her research demonstrated that fertilizers containing nitrates negatively impact scuds or sideswimmers in streams and rivers with the wild, small crustaceans that live in the Potomac River better able to cope with the nitrates than are their captive bred cousins.
Continuing her senior year in high school, Drew volunteered to staff our Town Run Watershed table at the American Conservation Film Festival in March of this year, meeting and talking with interested people visiting our table. She helped both young and old try their skill at preventing pollution in the Stream Cleaner Pinball Machine loaned to us by the Cacapon Institute.
Let’s wish Drew much success in the days and years to come as she learns and does more to help protect and heal our streams and natural areas. She anticipates participating in our next Save our Streams & Stream Ecology Workshop coming up in April. Join her if you can.
