Some college students spend the summer at the pool or the beach– PMSC AmeriCorps member, Brady Blackburn, spent his 2023 summer making a splash in quite a different way. Serving with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania rising Senior Biology student, made a lasting impact on the region’s waterway health by engaging in, “outreach to children and adults on varying topics relating to stream health,” and spending time in the waterways, “getting out and working to improve [them].” Blackburn is passionate about waterway improvement because, “people enjoy the benefits of healthy waterways every day, be it through drinking water or participating in recreational activities in and around it. By ensuring the health of our freshwater ecosystems today we are ensuring that future generations get to partake in the same activities we currently enjoy so much.”
One of Blackburn’s supervisors, Eric Chapman, noted, “Brady is one of the easiest to get along with individuals I have had the pleasure of working with. He always has a positive attitude which is incredibly important during arduous field days.” Spending their days collecting and analyzing water samples, constructing habitat and streambank stabilization, planting trees, and traversing rugged terrain while carrying heavy sampling equipment in all kinds of weather conditions, Blackburn grew from, “a warm body that could come and do the necessary tasks and work as part of the team to achieve our day-to-day goals,” to actively lead[ing] parts of projects to ensure the goals of the day are completed.”
Even when faced with challenges, Chapman explained that Blackburn was, “always ready to jump into an assignment or task.” When tasked with leading a Western Pennsylvania Conservancy outreach for elementary school-aged children, Brady, “found it difficult to simplify the topics of our work and still convey the importance of it to the children because they were not old enough to understand some of the more intricate concepts of our work in full detail, for example water chemistry and its importance. I found that the best way to learn to overcome this hurdle was to simply jump into the fire and force myself to become comfortable and better at getting the kids to understand the concepts that I was trying talk about with them.” Blackburn is unwilling to backdown from a challenge.
Ready, willing, open-minded, and humble, Brady Blackburn is a servant-hearted leader who refuses to sit on the streambank and lament the obstacles. Instead, he is doing his part to make a real difference to steward the natural resources of Western PA. Solving problems and strengthening his community one drop at a time, Brady Blackburn reports that his, “AmeriCorps service with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has offered me priceless experiences that have helped me grow and develop not only as a biologist but as a person.”
Keep getting things done, Brady. You give us hope in the future of this great nation–bringing out the best of the waterways, land, and people you interact with each and every day.
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