Wen-Rui Tang Revitalization Assessment Project

Wen-Rui Tang Revitalization Assessment Project

Toby Michelena

Wenzhou-Kean University (WKU) has been awarded a 150,000 RMB grant to study pollution in the Wen-Rui Tang river system   The Wen-Rui Tang is a historically and culturally important river system that has over the past few decades become significantly polluted with residential and industrial effluent.  The Wenzhou Municipal Government has undertaken efforts to begin to revitalize this important water system.  The WKU project is designed to begin to develop tools and provide information that will aid the Wenzhou Municipal Government in making remediation decisions and in assessing the success of the Wen-Rui Tang revitalization.

Led by Dr. Toby Michelena, the project team of Tian Xuechen, Zhou Xuan and Pan Xutong, will spend the next year developing models of the food chain of the Wen-Rui Tang.  These models will be the basis for future investigations on how pollutants such as pesticides and heavy metals effect both the ecosystem and the residents of Wenzhou who use the Wen-Rui Tang for food and transportation.

A key aspect of this project is to provide WKU students the opportunity to learn how to conduct large scale environmental research.  From learning basic technics to ultimately developing the skills necessary to design and conduct independent research, this project is intended to provide a framework for students to expand their abilities and interest in environmental research.