Area researchers learn what makes wetlands effective

It was Wednesday morning and Bob Midden, Ph.D., research professor at Bowling Green State University's Department of Chemistry, was standing in a pond in Oakwoods Nature Preserve's new wetlands restoration project. Donning waders and walking through the muck, audibly squishing, to roughly the pond's midpoint Wednesday was just one step in a long-term research project. Midden explained that wetlands like those at Oakwoods were created with the goal of reducing the contaminants in the water. But the effectiveness of a given wetland in filtering the water can vary, depending on its structure, the conditions, the weather and other factors. So, H2Ohio — the state program that funded Hancock Park District's expansion of Oakwoods — isn't just paying for the creation of this and other wetlands, but also research grants to measure how effective they are. Which is where Midden's team comes in. They take soil and water samples and measure the pH of the water, among other factors, as part of a larger team that includes experts in everything from vegetation to hydrology to geophysics. Accompanying Midden on Wednesday were Braden Baumhower, a first-year graduate student in geology at BGSU; and Chathuranga Senevirathne, a research coordinator who recently completed his masters degree in geology and will soon head to the University of Notre Dame to pursue a Ph.D. Senevirathne said he hopes to eventually teach and research, and work as a scientist to "solve some environmental issues," such as water pollution. Baumhower is from Toledo, and experienced that city's 2014 drinking water ban, during which time residents were advised not to use tap water because it was contaminated by toxins. "So there's a little bit of a personal aspect" to doing this work, Baumhower said. Wednesday's task was to install a device known as a sonde. Its four probes each measure a different thing: pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and electrical conductivity. It records measurements every 15 minutes for as long as it remains in place. The team will remove it in December, to prevent it from freezing and being damaged, then reinstall it in spring. Before installing the sonde on Wednesday, Midden considered different spots, wanting to ensure it would be underwater at all times, and that he had selected a representative location. Walking out, he reported the bottom of the pond was soft and he found himself sinking into the muck unevenly. "The bottom here is very interesting," he said later, reporting it was hard to know how deep he would go when taking a step. Baumhower, meanwhile, recalled getting stuck in the mud a year or so ago when the team visited earlier in the project. He said this site, more than some of the others he's worked on, has a reputation for swallowing boots, leaving a researcher occasionally walking in a muddy sock. As dragonflies flitted around on the shore of the pond, where Baumhower and Senevirathne stood, Midden took out the mount on which the sonde was to be installed. Midden prepared the device, inserting batteries and checking to determine it was indeed collecting data. It has a watertight seal, and can transmit information while underwater. It also has GPS capability. Midden then recorded what he had done on an iPad connected to a cloud-based system. Midden, who earned his Ph.D. in 1978, said technology has changed immensely in his years as a scientist. But there are still practical considerations to keep in mind. Although the case is supposed to be waterproof, he noted that his goal "is to not submerge the iPad." Later Midden directed Senevirathne, who was taking water samples, to try to get water that hadn't been disrupted when Midden had stood in the pond to install the sonde. Midden said he wanted water representative of what the pond would be like when undisturbed by humans. Midden's group travels throughout northwest Ohio. They had collected soil samples near the Indiana border on Tuesday and, on Friday, were scheduled to be at another site, 40 miles west of Bowling Green. The team has received funding through June 2023 so far, but Midden said the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has indicated a desire for their work to continue. He hopes it will receive funding for 10 years. "These sites change over time," he said. "They can change enormously." Midden said the Oakwoods site is very different now than it was a couple of years ago – but it will continue to change. And each wetland pool might have its own certain characteristics, making it appeal to amphibians, snakes and "a variety of different kinds of critters," Midden said. Midden first came to BGSU to start its Center for Photochemical Sciences in 1987. This project, however, is not part of that center. A BGSU webpage states that Midden retired from all of his administrative roles in 2019 and now leads a science research group investigating problems that are threatening the environmental welfare and economic vitality of Lake Erie and other Ohio lakes, rivers and streams. The work has involved more than 40 undergraduate and graduate students over the last several years. It's among several research projects already underway at the Oakwoods wetlands, which opens to the public in mid-September. Not far from where Midden installed the sonde, a BGSU master's degree student had stuck plastic tubes in the water. Her project involved collecting information on the effects of the wetlands on smaller animals, like snails. Ohio Northern University also has a research presence at the site. Chad Carroll, Hancock Park District natural resource manager, said the state has directed the park district not just to build the wetlands and set it aside. "They want us to utilize it," he said. Since the wetlands are brand new, the ONU researchers are studying how wildlife colonizes it, Carroll said.