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Bondurant Receives Monsanto Grant Award
By: Roy McCleary, Stormwater Coordinator
Date Published: Wednesday, September 22, 2010
City of Bondurant Receives $5000 Grant From Monsanto Fund
To Support Bondurant “Student Scientist” Watershed Project
Bondurant, Iowa. August 12, 2010- The City of Bondurant today announced it has received a $5000 Grant from the Monsanto Fund, a private foundation and the philanthropic arm of Monsanto Company, to help fund the Bondurant “Student Scientist” Watershed Project, which is designed to educate students to take stormwater samples in an effort to improve storm water quality.
“The City of Bondurant and the Environmental Science Students under the leadership of Mr. Lance Maffin, Science Instructor at Bondurant Farrar High School, are pleased to team up with the Monsanto Fund to address storm water monitoring issues for the community,” said Roy McCleary, Stormwater Coordinator for the City of Bondurant, responsible for creating this project. This grant will help purchase equipment for students to use to ensure accuracy of storm water samples.
Students from Bondurant-Farrar High School will participate in a yearly water quality monitoring project as a part of their school curriculum. It encourages members of the local community to assist in identifying current water quality conditions within the community; propose solutions and watershed-based plans that refer to data that is collected. Students collected data using five sets of Vernier equipment at 5 fixed locations throughout the City of Bondurant, then retrieved, analyzed and interpreted the data. As a result of data analysis by the students, the City of Bondurant and Bondurant High Science Teacher, it was discovered the following equipment was needed to make our project more successful. Further funds will be used to purchase a weather station at the new high school, training all students in IOwater certification, two accurate flow rate sensors, more waders and life jackets, and more funding for further analysis of data to ensure accuracy. The University of Iowa State Hygienics Laboratory will analyze our data to ensure data rigor and quality compliance with the data rigor and quality compliance with data collected.
Al Henderson, Site Manager at Monsanto’s Grinnell, IA Seed Production Facility, stated: “This project is a very good fit for Monsanto Fund support and considering the Grinnell facility has seed growers and customers in the Bondurant area he was glad Monsanto could partner with the City of Bondurant and Bondurant-Farrar High School on funding for this project”.
Photo: Roy McCleary, Stormwater Coordinator (left) receiving the Monsanto Fund
Grant Award from Matias Mino (right), a representative of the Monsanto Fund.