RMCC’s Science Club Initiates Community Clean-Up Event

On Friday, May 1, 2015, the Rich Mountain Community College Science Club kicked off their first Community Clean-Up event.  The first phase of the event was to gather trash around campus and nearby businesses between north Morrow Street and Polk Road 77.  The seven member team included Dr. Gaumani Gyanwali, Terry Francis, Naomi Ponthieux, Hailey Knittig, Ray Bellows, Jonathan Fosdick, and Hunter Sullivan.  Items such as cans, bottles, plastic sheets, and construction materials were the most common found.  Many of the items were buried under the mud or accumulated in ditches due to floodwaters from storms.  The team had both energy and courage to pick up every piece of abandoned waste that posed a threat to the beauty of our community.  Each participating student received two hours of community service from this event.  The RMCC Science Club is planning on organizing more events similar to this in the future and would like to cover a larger area of the community.  Their goal is to help spread awareness about keeping the community clean as well as the hazards of littering non-degradable waste.

Dr. Gyanwali will be keeping records of the findings from these field observations and plans to involve students in research in the future.  A report will be prepared from after additional data is collected from more areas and substantial information is gathered.

For more information about this event or the RMCC Science Club, contact:  Dr. Gaumani Gyanwali at 479-394-7622 x.1339 orgyanwali@rmcc.edu .

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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