Each weekday over the summer, Tyler Stoner was on the beach of Maumee Bay State Park by 8 a.m.
The 20-year-old’s early morning routine wasn’t for fun or exercise, but rather, for a job of significant importance.
Stoner
Stoner, a senior studying geology at The University of Toledo, tested the Lake Erie water for E. coli.
“Going into the job I did not realize how important it would be,” he said. “It was up to me to decide whether or not the beach was safe to remain open for the day.”
Stoner would conduct a simple survey of the beach’s quality and collect a water sample from three of the swimming coves and the inland lake. Then he took the samples back to the UToledo Lake Erie Center to incubate them for 24 hours and measure turbidity, the clarity of the water.
“I would then collect weather data online and use it, along with some of the survey data, in a model to predict the E. coli level for the day,” he said. The model included a half-dozen parameters: wind direction, wave height, wind code, turbidity, solar radiation and lake level.
“It was my job to use this model to see if it was likely that the water contains more E. coli than the EPA safety threshold of 235 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters,” he said. “If so, I issued a contamination advisory and informed the park officials.
“I gained valuable field and research experience, which I didn’t have prior to working. I also learned a lot about Lake Erie, and how something as simple as this can help people.”
A transfer student from Oakland University who will graduate next fall, Stoner was hired for the job through one of his faculty, Dr. Daryl Dwyer, professor of environmental sciences and director of the Environmental Remediation and Restoration Lab.
Dwyer said his laboratory has relied on UToledo students such as Tyler to assess the water quality at Maumee Bay State Park for more than a decade.
Weekdays through the summer, Tyler Stoner conducted a simple survey of the Maumee Bay State Park beach’s quality and collect a water sample from three of the swimming coves and the inland lake.
“The undergraduate students get to the beaches early every morning to collect water samples, observe environmental conditions and then analyze the samples in the laboratory,” Dwyer said. “After analysis, the assessment is posted on the Ohio Department of Health webpage known as BeachGuard. The student workers provide us with data to determine which environmental parameters are primary drivers of water quality, but, importantly, provide the public with a timely assessment to make decisions about their own health.
“Tyler has been the main person this academic year; his work has allowed him to develop both expertise in the field and laboratory, as well as contribute to the well-being of the residents of Ohio.”
Stoner said that working with Dwyer was a wonderful experience.
“He truly cares about his students and wants to help them succeed,” he said. “This was very apparent in his class I took called EEES 3900 Literature and Communication in the Environmental Sciences.”
In addition to collecting samples for Dwyer for E. coli, Stoner also took measurements of algae in the lake using a water probe for Dr. April Ames, associate professor in the Department of Population Health.
“Going into this I didn’t know much about what I would be doing,” he said, “but over the course of the summer, I started to realize that what I was doing truly does help prevent people from getting sick. It was an honor to do this.
“It’s cool that the University is able to do things like this,” Stoner added. “Not only does it help the students but the community. It provides an opportunity for learning while also keeping people safe. Those two aspects combined make it an incredibly important resource to everyone.”
