Last summer I began a research project with Dr. Samuel Smidt in Wheaton’s Geology and Environmental Science Department that started out as a typical environmental research project should: analyzing the health of a stream in Campton Township, not far from Wheaton. 

The stream was designated as part of a wetland restoration site, so an analysis of its health before the restoration began was important. Our research involved injecting a saline tracer into the stream, which required a pump that could sustain a constant flow rate of tracer injection without rapidly draining battery power, and preferably one that was durable enough to work in a wet field setting. 

Most pumps used in field intensive studies are expensive, require heavy batteries, and are not suited for hydrologic studies. So, we opted to design our own. Designing a pump took me into an area of study I was unfamiliar with and required a lot of out of the box thinking, tinkering, and extensive patience when the pump continually did not work. But I experienced the greatest feeling of success when I finally got the motor turning and was able to get water pumping at a rapid rate. 

I had the opportunity to present our innovation at the Geological Society of America’s main conference. To realize that people would use the pump and the set of instructions I’d produced in their own future research was an affirmation of the hard work I had put into the pump that summer. 

I was thankful I hadn’t given up on creating my pump even when it seemed like a sidetrack from my initial research, because it ended up fulfilling a need in hydrologic field studies that will help future researchers in environmental science.