EmilyVierling

SteveSmith
Chemistry11
ProjectReflection

a) Towhatdegreedoscientistshaveanobligationtocommunicatescientificconceptsanddatato
thepublicinanunderstandablemanner?

Scientistsabsolutelyhaveanobligationtocommunicatescientificconceptsanddatatothepublic.Thisis
because,mostofthetime,thepublicisunawareofthescientificimpactsinourcommunity.Itis
importantthatwecommunicatethesciencebehindeventssothepublichasadeeperunderstandingof
whathappenedbothinthecommunityandinthefieldofscience.Thepublic,Iknowfrompersonal
experience,isveryinterestedinwhatthesciencecommunityisdoingwitheventsthathappeninDurango.
Asanindividual,Ihavealwaysbeeninterestedinlearningaboutthescientificconceptsanddatacollected
andhowitrelatestospecificevents.Itisimportantthatitispresentedinanunderstandablemanner
becausethepublicneedstointerpretthescientificconceptsinawaythatmakessensetothem.Thisway,
theycanlearnhowthey,asindividualscanhelptothecausescientifically.

b) Howhasyourunderstandingofscientificknowledgeand/ortheprocessofdoingsciencechanged
throughoutthesemesterasyouveexaminedandmanipulateddatacollectedbyprofessional
scientistsandperformedanalogousexperimentstocollectandanalyzeyourowndata?

Beforethissemester,Ihadneverincorporatedmyscientificknowledgethatdirectlycorrelatedwithan
eventthatwasaffectingourcommunity.IthinkthegreatestgrowthIvemadeinmyunderstandingof
scientificknowledgeisthefactthatIknowhowtoapplymethodsthatIhavelearnedtorealeventsthat
aregoingonintherealworld,orspecificallywhatishappeninginthecommunity.Oneofthemost
importantskillsthatIhavelearnedishowtointerpretdataandrelateittoourcurrentstudies.Itwasreally
productiveformyevolutionoftheunderstandingofscientificknowledgetobeabletoexaminedata
collectedbyprofessionalscientistsandthenusethoseinterpretationstoapplytowardsexperimentsand
myowndatacollected.

Thepastsemesterhasalsobeenfilledwithnewdiscoveriesformyself,Iwanttopursuethetopicof
science(marinebiology)foracareerandthispastsemesterhashelpedmetremendously.Myscientific
writinghasgrown,Icanclearlyseethedifferencesinsophisticationandresearchbasedformfrommy
firstdrafttomymostrecent.Throughmywriting,Ihavealsogainedabetterunderstandingofscientific
conceptsandhowtobettercommunicatethemthroughoutmyscientificcareer.

c) WhatecologicalandhumanhealththreatsmightbeassociatedwiththeGoldKingMinespill:
initially,currentlyandinthefuture?
Therearecountlesshealththreats,bothtohumansandtotheenvironment,however,thoseeffectsmay
notbeprevalentuntilthefuture.ThemainecologicalimpactIfocusedonduringtheGoldKingMine
SpillwastheeffectonAgriculture.Theminedumpedthreemilliongallonsoftoxicwasteintotheriver,
causingittorisequiteabit,leavingtoxicsedimentalongthebanksides,thereforecontaminatingthesoil

alongtheriverside.Plantsabsorbtheirnutrientsandwaterfromthesoilandwhenthesoilis
contaminated,thereisagoodchancethattheplantsareabsorbingtoxicparticleswhengoingthrough
theseprocesses.Idecidedtolookattheplanttolerancesforspecificmetalsormineralsandthencompare
thosetolerancelevelstotheconcentrationsinthesediment.WhatIfound,confirmed,thattheremaybe
futureeffectsontheagriculture.Takeforexample,zinc.Aplantcanabsorbaround100mgofzincbefore
itlosesfunctionalityduetotakinginmorezincthanitcantolerate.Inthesediment,however,therewas
1,000mgofzincpresent,10xthetoleranceamountoftheplant.Thisgivesmereasontobelievethat,in
thefutureandpossiblyinthepresent,thiscouldaffecttheplantspeciesandhealth.

Therearesomehumanhealthconcernsaswell,howevernotasseriousasthehealththreatstothe
environment.Initially,thereweremanyconcernsofwhatthetoxicwastecoulddotohumanhealth.
However,astimehasprogressed,theaciditylevelshavereturnedbacktonormal,andmostofthe
metals/mineralslevelshavedroppedandtheEPAisreportingthattheriverisbacktosafelevels.

d) Whatistheroleofscienceinmakingpolicydecisions?

Theroleofscienceisavitalpartinmakingpolicydecisions.Becauseofscience,wewereabletouncover
thetrueimpactsthatthespillmadeontheriver.Withthedatacollected,ithascausedtheSilverton
communitytoreallyseetheimpactthattheminesaremakingontheAnimasRiver.Itisbecauseofthis
dataandwhatthescientificresearchstatedthatSilvertonhasdecidedtomoveforwardwithaSuperfund.
TheSuperfundwillprovidefederalfundinginordertocleanuptheold,inactivemines.Thiswillallow
forthepollutionoftheAnimasRivertostop.Scienceplayedsuchamajorroleinthisdecision.Withthe
scientificresearchanddata,itwasabletomakethepublicawareofthesituationandcometogetherto
findacommonsolution.