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Welcome from the Executive Director of the Rivers Institute at Hanover College (RIH)
Paint Out Artists Bring a Colorful Spirit to Campus
Media and Scientists join together at Conference
School Field Trip Program to be Launched Fall 2009
Rivers institute Hosts Ohio River Research Conference
Summer Academy shows High School Student the Beauty of Hanover College
Rivers institute Announces Plans for an Outdoor Environmental Training Center
Hanover College Students at the Rivers Institute
Welcome from the Executive Director of the Rivers Institute at Hanover College (RIH)
In this issue of the Newsletter, you will read about some of the accomplishments that the staff of the Rivers Institute have achieved during the past few months. I wanted to mention some of these accomplishments, and acknowledge the great work that is being done by Rivers Institute staff on behalf of Hanover College.
Marissa Austin, Director of External Relations, is busy managing all of the Rivers Institute external relations and communications. Her most recent accomplishment is to have successfully coordinated a lecture by film maker and documentarian, Mr. Eric (Ric) Burns, and reception at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis. The Rivers Institute partnership with the Indiana Historical Society is one of numerous collaborations that are important to the work of Hanover College and the Rivers Institute.
Rivers Institute staff member Jenny Miller did an outstanding job working hand in hand with artist Rick Bennett to organize the 2009 Paint Out. Along with that success, Jenny has been huddled in planning meetings with Associate Director Deborah Hanson busy organizing the Rivers Institute field trip program for school children. If that isn’t enough, Jenny managed the Summer High School Academy that you can read about in this issue.
The accomplishments of the Rivers Institute program officer Merry Ross can be seen in 
this issue also. Merry has been working closely with Associate Director Daryl Karns to organize the upcoming annual meeting of the Ohio River Basin Consortium for Research and Education that will be held on campus this October. When Merry is not on the phone organizing the conference, she is also huddled with Associate Director Deborah Hanson - the two of them are planning a teacher academy for the summer of 2010.
Although Rivers Institute grant development officer Geoffrey Weiss started 
working at Hanover College on June 1, he was able to submit the first ever government grant proposal in the 182 year old history of Hanover College – a planning grant proposal submitted in September to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Geoffrey has started meeting with academic departments to begin the process of initiating additional grant proposals, and has helped to create a set of campus grant policies that will help Hanover College manage what is hoped to become an active grant development program.
Although Doug Denne, Rivers Collection Librarian, has joined the Rivers Institute recently, he has been a employee of Hanover College for some time. Doug worked hard to identify and assemble images from the Hanover College 
Archives to use with a series of small exhibits at the Indiana Historical Society.
Finally, none of the staff would be able to accomplish any of their successes without the help of Elsa Conboy. Elsa is the Institute’s Administrative Assistant and Budget Manager, and provides much needed support to students, faculty and staff to keep the bills paid, and to help run the entire operation.
Paint Out Artists Bring a Colorful Spirit to Campus
Over 90 artists gathered together on the campus of Hanover College to enjoy a weekend of peace and beauty while performing their craft. The weather could not have been more perfect on Saturday, nor the sky more blue as artists, beginning as early at 6:00 a.m., arrived on
campus. The paint out continued on Sunday, and even though the weather was not as
wonderful, participants showed their passion as they stood under umbrellas to paint in the rain.
After being scattered around Hanover College’s 650-acre campus for nearly two days, artists had the opportunity late Sunday to come together for the Meet the Artist Sale and 
Exhibition. Artists not only had the opportunity to sell the work they had completed that weekend, but were able to converse amongst themselves and with campus visitors.
Here is what one artist had to say about the event, “What a great day on Saturday. I am a Hanover Alum ('88) and decided to make a day trip and take my girls to paint on the river. We all enjoy dabbling in the arts. A relaxing day, excellent weather and scenery, surrounded by nature and by talented artists. I even got the opportunity to visit with a long lost friend who is an Art teacher in the area and had brought her art class. I hope you continue to foster this event as I am sure to attend again and would like to bring other friends and family. Thanks for all your efforts to support the arts.”
Media and Scientists join together at Conference
The Rivers Institute, in partnership with WFPL of Louisville, want to stoke the dialogue between regional journalists and scientists in the hopes of boosting the quality and quantity of regional environmental coverage. The conference’s first day is devoted to the issues, the science, and the research in the Ohio River Valley region. From presentations throughout the day, participants gain a finer appreciation for the broad environmental issues and challenges in the watershed. The conference’s second day is devoted to covering the issues. It’s both for scientists who want more insight into working with journalists and journalists who want more tips on finding the right scientists, working with them, and getting a great, regional environmental story.
School Field Trip Program to be Launched Fall 2009
The Rivers Institute at Hanover College is excited to open the campus to area school groups for a fun field trip experience. RIH is piloting several field trip sections this fall for grades K-5 to explore the wonders of the Hanover College Campus. From the Rivers Institute lab, to a tour of the natural history museum, to the exploration of forest trails, students will never forget this exciting field trip! The school field trip program provides an economically-friendly, interdisciplinary learning opportunity to children. This distinctive program not only teaches children, but also engages Hanover College students of diverse majors in the creating, planning and implementation of the program.
Rivers Institute Hosts Ohio River Research Conference
The Rivers Institute is pleased to host the Ohio River Basin Consortium for Research and Education’s symposium, “Making Connections: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Ohio River.” The symposium, being held October 18-20, will include sessions covering a wide range of topics including, but not limited to historical perspectives, water quality and quantity, watershed management, human effects on water quality, water issues in the Ohio River and its tributaries, education and outreach,
citizen monitoring and restoration.
Summer Academy shows High School Students the Beauty of Hanover College
Submitted by Alberto Lubrano C’10, Summer Academy Intern
This past summer, 32 High School students from all over the U.S. were given the
opportunity to participate in the Rivers Institute Summer High School Academy. Our scholars got to experience the reality of working in scientific labs and in the field under the guidance of professors and Hanover College seniors. The students were kept rather busy during that week learning material that most college students don’t learn until their second or third year of undergraduate studies. The goal of all this of course was to make these students realize the work and effort that it would take to go to college. I myself, a Hanover College biology and chemistry major learned a few things about human bone structure during this camp. One of the biggest feedback comments received was that they were made to see that science is not always as easy or fast as it seems on TV, but that this only made them want an education, even more.
The aim, however, was not only academic enrichment, but social as well. These students got to live on campus and begin experiencing what college life will be like for them in a few years. This was a rather important aspect because part of the difficulty of going to college for the first time is acclimating to a whole new social dynamic. The students got to take tours of the town of Madison, go on a boat ride on the Ohio River, have an ice cream and pizza social and watch murder mystery movies. Amongst all these experiences, I
myself as a camp counselor had some rather interesting experiences. Not only did I get to guide students in the lab, but I got to provide them with advice on everyday difficulties such as speaking in front of people, or learning to be open about their thinking process and having intellectual discussions with others. This Academy was a chance for all
involved to grow and develop together, not just students but the counselors and professors as well.
Rivers Institute announces plans for an Outdoor Environmental Training Center
The Hanover College campus holds many hidden treasures and the Rivers Institute has plans to share those with the public. This fall, RIH began work on a series of projects that will create an outdoor environmental training center for Hanover College which will include improving the trail system, converting the YMCA building into a classroom, building a teaching pavilion, installing an organic garden, and constructing an Ohio River observation platform.
Some of the current trail system has been cleaned and updated to accommodate people of
all ages as well as larger groups. Additional work on the trails will continue next summer. The YMCA building is being repaired as a classroom, and an outdoor pavilion installed near-by to provide an outdoor educational teaching center for school groups, summer camps, teachers and students. Hanover College owns an attractive piece of beach-front property on the Ohio River that will become the site for a river observation deck and site for the study of river and stream ecology.
Hanover College will continue to be a one of the most beautiful college campuses, and in the future it will also be an extraordinary campus for learning environmental science.
Hanover College Students at the Rivers Institute
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Jonathan Harden worked with the Howard Steamboat Museum focusing on the upcoming Steamboat Bicentennial Celebration in 2011. |
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Bethany Carboneau worked all summer in Chicago, IL studying the ecology and evolution of
homalopsid snakes at the Field |
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Paul Killian traveled to the Grand Canyon to study the ecology of tamarix (salt cedar). He examined the specie’s invasive capability on various plant communities in the region. |
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James "Michael" Smith traveled to the Camino de Santiago, a Catholic pilgrimage route through Spain ending in the city of Santiago de Compostela. He explored the
history and culture of the river towns along this route, as well as the effects that the rivers have on the local people and societies. |
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Andrew Hoffman captured, marked, and released frogs in order to track and reveal their ecological niches at Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge. Later the frogs were recaptured so that Hoffman could take tissue samples to study and reveal genetic variability or pathogenic complications. |
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Kristie LaMantia and Abby Simpson collected and analyzed water |
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Jon Wheat works with the Indiana Historical Society to research information for a traveling Exhibit that will educate the public about the history of the first steamboat on the Ohio River. |