Pennsylvania has more abandoned mines than any other state, and their impacts are still felt in the state's waterways. Beech Creek, a 170-square-mile watershed in Clinton and Centre counties, was once a thriving trout fishery. Today, its waters are highly acidic and carry dissolved metals and sulfur compounds from abandoned mine drainage (AMD). The result is that many stretches of Beech Creek have become uninhabitable for fish. For four graduate students in the course "TREES 574: Integrated Perspectives in Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society," these challenges became the focus of a hands-on research project to better understand and restore Beech Creek.
The students, Grace Lewis, Faisal Elias, Mobashsira Tasnim and Somtochukwu Attamah, named themselves "Team Beech" for their project in the Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society (TREES) course. They chose to focus on the community side of the AMD issue, recognizing that many Beech Creek residents have family ties to coal mining and that local support from residents and recreationists is essential for successful watershed remediation.
"We know the Beech Creek watershed is burdened with abandoned mine drainage, but remediation is complex, dynamic and layered," said Lewis, a graduate student in the forest resources program. "Addressing community perceptions felt like a meaningful first step."
Interviews revealed Beech Creek is central to community identity, tied to fishing and traditions, according to the students. Yet awareness of AMD impact was limited. Even the orange-tinted water, caused by rust that forms when water and air react with pyrite found in coal mines, had become so familiar that many residents viewed it as "normal."
Attamah, a dual-title doctoral student in education policy studies and TREES, said the experience highlighted the importance of community voices in addressing AMD, particularly in regions with a long-standing history of coal mining.
"By interacting directly with residents, I observed the importance of building trust and the challenges of balancing property rights, economic priorities and environmental needs," he said.
Additionally, the students found active efforts to remediate the creek often went unseen.
"Some interviewees knew about local treatment facilities, but many didn't, even though there's one right in the parking lot of the local sportsman's club, close to where we interviewed people," Lewis said. "That showed us there's a disconnect in awareness around remediation."
The team also interviewed practitioners, who are individuals deeply involved in the watershed's remediation. One of those individuals was Brian Cooper, the Pennsylvania AMD project manager with Trout Unlimited. In his role, he identifies AMD sources, plans remediation strategies, applies for grant funding to implement projects and monitors the successful recovery of affected streams.
"Having young leaders who are interested in learning about pervasive environmental problems, like AMD, and the many barriers to ecosystem restoration is incredibly valuable," Cooper said. "The students' enthusiasm was contagious, and I think that the residents of the watershed who interacted with them during interviews were pleased to see a younger generation take interest and provide an optimistic view of what the watershed could become."
The team also explored ways to educate the community about the watershed and motivate participation.
"The current water quality data is piecemeal," Lewis said. "We need consistent monitoring and an interactive map to make it useful for both practitioners and the community."
This data-driven component of the project was led by Tasnim, a doctoral student in geography with a dual title in TREES. Using her expertise in geographic information science (GISci), Tasnim helped the team build an interactive online map. The map provides the most current water quality data, organizes restoration efforts and reflects residents' input, offering a practical way to boost community participation in environmental stewardship.
"Integrating GISci with stakeholder input has the potential to address landscape -scale problems in remediation projects," Tasnim said.
The team will present their findings at the Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference in October, extending the project's impact beyond the classroom.
Derrick Taff, assistant dean for research and graduate education and associate professor of recreation park and tourism management, co-taught "TREES 574" this past spring with Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography. He said the overarching objective of the course is for students to gain experience by working in teams to conduct partner-driven research related to Centre County water quality.
"The students co-designed the project blending their disciplinary expertise, in tandem with what the community and practitioners associated with the creek desired as an outcome," Taff said.
Elias, a doctoral candidate in geography, said the project provided him with a unique opportunity to work with people of different backgrounds and experience as well as with the community at the center of the problem.
"Co-creating and working with such people exposed nuances that a single person or someone from a particular field may miss," he said.
As part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Beech Creek's recovery has ripple effects far beyond Centre and Clinton counties. Yet for the students and community members working together, the team said the most important outcome is local, with healthier waters, stronger connections and renewed hope for the future of the creek.
