The Smith Mountain Lake Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program (SMLWQMP), administered by scientists from Ferrum College in collaboration with the Smith Mountain Lake Association (SMLA), is celebrating its thirty-sixth anniversary this year. Initiated in 1987, the program has functioned each year to monitor the water quality in Smith Mountain Lake and to encourage active participation of the lake community in protecting this resource.
Each summer, Ferrum College faculty, students, and SMLA representatives and volunteers monitor the lake water for nutrients, bacteria, and algal blooms. Stakeholders and local health departments use collected data to inform the community of any concerns.
Ferrum College Professor of Environmental Science and Smith Mountain Lake Water Quality Monitoring Program Director Delia Heck has been an integral part of the program for 17 years. “For me, the SMLWQMP is an excellent example of the synergy possible between academia, citizen scientists, government agencies, industry, and regional advocacy groups to ensure the viability of our water resources. Ferrum College faculty, staff, and students work closely with the Smith Mountain Lake Association and its members on a weekly basis to run the program. This work wouldn’t be possible without the support of Appalachian Power Company, Bedford County Regional Water Authority, Smith Mountain Lake Association, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and Western Virginia Water Authority.”
“I am the intern responsible for the total phosphorus portion of the water quality project,” said student intern and Ferrum College senior Emma Brubaker. “I love this project. Working under and learning from these professors has already been one of the best experiences I’ve had. I can’t wait to see everything I learn this summer while doing something I love.”
Ferrum College senior and student intern Shane Hernandez’s family visited Smith Mountain Lake long before he was ever born. He has many wonderful memories of the lake and feels great to be able to do something for the lake and the community. “My job is to collect, analyze, and identify algae samples. While it is not the most entertaining job, I still find a great amount of satisfaction knowing that I am helping the community. It is awesome to learn more about the lake I have spent most of my life on.”
“I’m one of the main leaders on bacteria sampling and analysis,” said student intern and Ferrum College junior René Settle. “I am very excited about what I’ve learned here so far. I especially love being out on the lake and on the boat, even if I do get a sunburn. It’s so fun to be able to see the data come in and understand the reason behind the numbers.”
Faculty Emeritus of Biology and Agriculture Bob Pohlad has been involved in the program from the early days as a support person. He became directly involved in harmful algal bloom and invasive weed identification in 2007 as the need arose for expertise in this area. Pohlad was married to the late Ferrum College Faculty Emerita of Environmental Science and Smith Mountain Lake advocate Carolyn Thomas. Thomas, who passed away in 2020, was one of the original scientists, together with Ferrum College Faculty Emeritus David Johnson, who founded the Smith Mountain Lake Association’s Water Quality Monitoring Program. Involved in the program from the beginning until her death, Thomas worked closely with Ferrum College students analyzing water samples.
Pohlad noted he was fortunate to be able to work side-by-side for over forty years with Thomas at Ferrum College doing what they both loved, teaching and sharing knowledge and passion for nature with others. “Carolyn found an ideal place to study lakes when we came to Ferrum in 1978 where we lived between Smith Mountain Lake on one end of Franklin County and Philpott Lake on the other. Her passion for sharing this interest with others manifested itself in her teaching and outreach to community groups. She always was willing to share her research results at local, regional, and national meetings to promote stewardship and care of the environment. Her passion for caring for the environment was her driving force right up until she passed away in 2020.”
Ferrum College recently announced the endowment of the Carolyn L. Thomas Memorial Fund, which will provide critical support to the College’s natural science programs. Established in memory of Thomas, the fund will primarily support experiential learning projects for students in environmental science, agriculture, and biology. Pohlad stated, “The endowed Memorial Fund in her name supports the experiential learning that she felt so passionate about both through class trips we took and students who worked with us over the years on the Smith Mountain Lake Water Quality Project. I am so appreciative of all of those who donated to honor her and her legacy of helping others. She truly was a Not Self, But Others person throughout her life.”
To view additional photos of the Smith Mountain Lake Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program, click here.
To learn more about the Carolyn L. Thomas Memorial Fund, click here.
Legendary Coach Hank Norton
Through gifts from family, friends, and former football players of Coach Wilbert Henry “Hank” Norton, an endowment honoring Coach Norton’s 34 years of service to Ferrum College has been established.
The endowment will support The Norton Outdoor Adventures, formerly known as Ferrum Outdoors, and will pay tribute to his love of the environment. Norton was an avid fly-fisherman and enjoyed the great outdoors in addition to coaching and mentoring student-athletes.
The program encompasses activities such as disc golf, hiking, camping, caving, skiing, biking, and paddle sports that focus on getting outside and enjoying nature, with an emphasis on safety and learning.
“Throughout our lives, Dad had a reputation as a highly respected football coach. What excites us about the establishment of this [program]…is that it honors his actions as a leading citizen-advocate for clean water and a clean environment,” wrote Norton’s children, Pattie Norton Gunter, Will Norton, and Jack Norton, in a statement of support.
“I am incredibly grateful for Coach Norton’s family as well as his former players and friends who came together to make this happen,” said Vice President for Institutional Advancement and External Relations Wilson Paine. “The Norton Outdoor Adventures is a fitting tribute to Coach Norton’s contributions to Ferrum College outside of football, and this endowment solidifies Ferrum’s commitment to providing our students the opportunity to explore the natural environment and develop a deeper appreciation for the outdoors.”
Norton, who passed away on January 16, 2019 at the age of 91, has been described as tough but caring, leading Ferrum College into post-season playoff runs, winning titles, and coaching 46 All-Americans during his career at the College.
Learn more about Norton Outdoor Adventures here.
Learn more about Coach Norton here.
If you would like to donate to the Norton Outdoor Adventures program, please visit www.ferrum.edu/giving, or contact the Office of Institutional Advancement by calling 540-365-4211 or emailing advancement@ferrum.edu.
Ferrum, VA, January 15, 2020 — On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, after a 20-month battle with ovarian cancer, Ferrum College’s beloved retired Professor of Environmental Science Carolyn Lee Thomas passed away. She was four days shy of her seventy-second birthday, and had just enjoyed a long weekend with her family.
“We are heartbroken over the death of Carolyn Thomas, who was for so many of us a model of fierce intellect, creative imagination, and personal courage. She had a way of exciting curiosity in her students and of inviting us all to be better people. Her fingerprints are on all of our lives—thousands of us—and we will miss her dearly,” said President David L. Johns.
Born on January 18, 1948 in Orlando, Florida, Thomas knew from an early age that she was happiest in nature. She received her Bachelor of Science in biology from Florida Southern College and went on to earn a Master of Science in zoology from the University of Georgia. After moving to Virginia, Thomas earned her Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Virginia Tech.
In 1974, she met her soulmate Bob Pohlad when she enrolled at the University of Central Florida to begin work on her master’s degree. Pohlad was working as the teaching assistant in Thomas’s cytogenetics class while completing graduate work at the University. He helped Thomas with her microscope projects and labs. “We just hit it off,” Pohlad explained. “She was someone who loved to travel as I did, was a little bit hippie in her sandals and long hair, and was a free spirit that I loved talking to. We spent hours talking about everything including our common upbringing.” The pair found many similarities in their lives, including losing their fathers as young teenagers, loving sports, and filling leadership roles–Thomas as president of her ZTA sorority and Pohlad as president of his youth group and biology club.
Thomas and Pohlad were forced to begin a long-distance relationship after Pohlad was accepted into the University of Georgia’s doctorate program. The couple wrote to each other daily and traveled back and forth from Florida to Georgia as often as possible. They couldn’t stand being apart any longer and held a surprise wedding in March 1975 at Thomas’s homeplace on Lake Howell in Maitland, Florida (in photo at their wedding). Many of the guests were unaware they were coming to a wedding ceremony until the minister arrived. “We were married outside under the trees on the lake,” recalled Pohlad. “After the wedding ceremony, we played flag football and they threw us in the lake. I remember we left town that evening to head to the beach for our honeymoon one-night stay and couldn’t find a place, and ended up at a motel back in town.”
In 1978, the Pohlad-Thomas couple found themselves at Ferrum College when Pohlad was hired as a professor of biology and horticulture. Thomas taught middle school science for a year but quickly accepted a position teaching environmental science at Ferrum College in 1979, where she and Pohlad remained as professors for the next 41 years. They both retired in May 2019 (after the 2019 commencement shown in the photo). Once asked in a 2018 interview how she and Pohlad were able to work for so long at not only the same college but in the same department with offices next door to each other, she answered, “It works because we communicate. We have to understand each other staying up late, working with students. We have to keep talking, although we don’t always agree. The advantage is that we both have these responsibilities together, so we understand them.”
In addition to their budding careers at Ferrum College and Thomas’s continued pursuit of graduate work, the couple became parents when their son Chris was born in November 1979. In December 1984, their second son Tim was born. Thomas’s legacy now lives on in her two sons, their wives, and her four grandchildren.
At Ferrum College, Thomas served as Science Camp director for many years. She was also a founding member of the Smith Mountain Lake Water Quality Project, which she directed for 32 years, leading a team of Ferrum College faculty and students in conjunction with the Smith Mountain Lake Association to analyze the lake’s water quality during the summer months.
“She was as passionate about water quality, environmental science, the natural world, and women in science on the day she retired as her first day 41 years ago when she began teaching,” wrote Ferrum College’s Associate Professor of Environmental Science Delia Heck. Heck taught alongside Thomas and worked with her on the Water Quality Project.
Thomas was diagnosed with ovarian cancer stage IV in May 2018. During treatment, she remained positive and active, continuing as often as possible with her 50-year habit of walking multiple miles a day. “I just pushed through the pain,” Thomas said in the same 2018 interview. “I derive my spirit from friends and family. I heal better through them. But I’m also a scientist, so I believe in medication and treatment.”
Thomas’s work will not be soon forgotten. In addition to the thousands of lives she touched, Thomas and Pohlad jointly received the Ecological Society of America’s Eugene P. Odum Award for Excellence in Ecological Education in 2016. Thomas also received the Melvin Johnston Award from the Smith Mountain Lake Association for her work on the Water Quality Project.
Thomas and Pohlad were married for nearly 45 years. They spent their lives teaching and traveling, visiting all 50 states and touring the Galapagos Islands in 2017. In 2003, the professors traveled with three Ferrum College students to Malawi, Africa to set up water quality equipment and teach Malawian scientists how to use it. Recent adventures led Thomas, Pohlad, and Ferrum College E-Term (Experiential Term) students to distant locations such as the Virgin Islands and Ireland. This past summer, the couple road-tripped out west in an RV and dubbed the trip “Bob and Carolyn’s Excellent Adventure.”
“She was most happy in the lab, in the field or forest, or in the water, helping students discover and learn about the amazing planet Earth,” wrote Heck. “It was an honor and privilege to work with her, be mentored and taught by her, and to serve by her side in pursuit of truth, knowledge, and inspiration.”
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The celebration of life for Dr. Carolyn Thomas, a member of St. Peters In the Mountains Episcopal Church, Callaway, VA, was held on Sunday, January 26, 2020, in Ferrum College’s Vaughn Chapel, and drew hundreds in attendance. Please see this Spotify slide show, set to some of her favorite songs, honoring her memory.
In lieu of flowers, the Thomas and Pohlad families request that individuals make a gift to the Carolyn Thomas Memorial Fund at Ferrum College, at https://dev.ferrum.edu/ferrum-giving. Donations will support students in the College’s Division of Natural Sciences.
Ferrum College is making a bold “Ferrum Promise”: beginning in fall 2020, students who transfer from a Virginia community college with an appropriate associate’s degree will be able to graduate within two years of transfer, or they will receive free tuition for the remaining coursework.
“Today, nearly forty percent of students who graduate from a Virginia community college need three or more additional years to finish a bachelor’s degree because their new college will not accept many of their credits. This is not what they expected–it’s frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive,” said Ferrum College President David Johns.
The College already guarantees admission from all 23 community colleges in Virginia. The “Ferrum Promise” is the College’s next step to become even more transfer friendly and applies to all students who are enrolled full-time, enter with an appropriate associate’s degree from a Virginia community college, and meet certain academic requirements.
This promise encompasses many majors offered by Ferrum College, including its signature programs:
“We are excited to offer transfer students a seamless transition to Ferrum College where they will receive individualized course mapping with our faculty,” said Provost Aimé Sposato.
“Ferrum College is student-centered and future-focused, and because of this, we are making a promise to our transfer students that will dramatically impact their future,” said Johns. “We support a vision of making college affordable, accessible, and even a little more predictable, and we promise to make this a reality for students who transfer to Ferrum College.”
Visit here to learn more about the “Ferrum Promise” and transferring to Ferrum College.
Ferrum College Associate Professor of Environmental Science Delia Heck has accepted a three-year appointment to the Episcopal Church Task Force on Care of Creation and Environmental Racism.
The role of the task force is to recommend appropriate changes in federal, state or local law so that effective judicial remedies can be obtained to address governmental decisions with respect to land use, industrial, energy and transportation development, and application of environmental standards. The task force will accomplish this goal by studying disproportionate health or environmental impact on those living closest to the land in subsistence cultures, ethnic minorities or poor communities.
The group is made up of approximately twenty people from across The Episcopal Church which comprises the US, Taiwan, Haiti, Ecuador, Micronesia, Honduras, Columbia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
“This appointment allows Ferrum College to have a front row seat in discussions about how our faith calls us to respond to issues of environmental justice and creation care in the political, social and economic arenas at the local and national levels. It demonstrates to our students that the journey begun with their Ferrum College education is not limited by our geography or size. Rather, their passions and drive, combined with the opportunities and experiences provided here, empower them to achieve their life’s dreams,” stated Dr. Heck.
This appointment follows Dr. Heck’s five trips to Haiti, the first taking place in June 2017, where she assessed the energy, economic and social justice needs of the country.
Watch Dr. Heck’s September seminar on her experiences in Haiti here. Also, read more about her work in Haiti in The Franklin News-Post article here.
About the photograph: Dr. Heck is meeting with members of St. Simon St. Jude in Duny, Haiti about their need for solar energy and how they might use the energy if a solar energy system was to be installed at the school. She was there with members of their videography team as well as members of the Haitian non-profit Voices & Actions which works to help women in a neighboring village by raising chickens, goats, pigs, and tilapia to sell at wholesale price in order for the women to sell the livestock in the market at retail price. The difference in the prices allows them to earn money to support their families by paying for school fees, food, clothing, etc.
