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Campus Review
July 16, 2012
Page 2
Jere Boudell and SEEDS’ Study of
Jesters Creek Restoration Now in its Fourth Year
by John Shiffert, University Relations
Clayton State’s National
Champions Get Their Own Road Signs
While an NCAA National Championship
trophy is a sure sign of reaching the top in
college sports, there are other signs as
well.
Take the two green road signs that were
recently posted in Morrow, commemorat-
ing the 35-1, 2010/11Clayton State
University women’s basketball team that
won the NCAA Division II national
championship on Mar. 25, 2011, with a
dominating 69-50 win over Michigan
Tech in St. Joseph’s, Mo.
Thanks to the efforts of now-retired
Clayton State Vice President for External
Relations “Steve” Stephens, the Georgia
DOT has located the signs on Georgia
route 54 (Jonesboro Road), across from
the Georgia Archives and just north of the
main entrance to the University (Clayton
State Boulevard), and on the left side of
the exit 233 exit ramp from southbound I-
75.
In 2008, Dr. Jere Boudell, associate
professor of biology at Clayton State
University, started a long-term study
of the Jesters Creek restoration project
an urban stream restoration. Four years
into the project, Boudell, along with
both current Clayton State SEEDS
(Strategies for Ecology Education,
Diversity, and Sustainability) chapter
members and alumni, are currently in
the second round of the study, and the
restoration project has expanded.
Jesters Creek is an urban headwater
stream of the Flint River and is located
about five minutes from the Clayton
State campus, Boudell explains. Her
study is also investigating Little
Falling Creek as a reference site.
“Urban stream restoration is a relative-
ly new tool used to increase river chan-
nel stability and habitat and water
quality,” she says. “Because most
urban streams are in poor health, and
because stream restoration is a rela-
tively new tool, I began this project to
researchers. This project is a vehicle
for the chapter members to participate
in meaningful community-related
research, and the long-term nature of
the project allows current students to
interact with past participants.
“It's like a learning community for
research,” Boudell exclaims.
She also notes that, in the past four
years, students who've participated as
student researchers have presented
their portion of the project at the annu-
al meeting of the Ecological Society of
America (the largest ecological sci-
ence organization) and have also par-
ticipated in related outreach activities.
“We are planning to present the pre-
liminary results of this project on cam-
pus in the fall and next summer at the
annual ESA meeting,” she says. “A
few of my students and I are writing
manuscripts about the project too.
Several students (who were previously
monitor project suc-
cess and offer sugges-
tions to improve urban
stream
restoration
methods.”
Boudell’s study, which
is being done pro
bono, is funded by the
Ecological Society of
America's (ESA) SEEDS program which
is designed to increase the participation of
underrepresented students in the ecologi-
cal sciences. It has also been funded by
the Clayton State College of Arts and
Sciences and the Clayton State
Department of Natural Sciences.
Boudell points out that long term studies
such as this provide valuable data that
could not be discovered through short-
term studies. As the primary investigator
on the project, and the Clayton State
SEEDS chapter mentor, Boudell has
involved various past and current mem-
bers of Clayton State SEEDS as active
participants as interns and student
Boudell
SEEDS, cont’d. p. 5