Bridging Research and Action Towards a Clean Water Future
In 2017, faculty in the Dietrich School’s Department of Geology and Environmental Science recognized a problem: valuable research was happening across the university, but it often remained compartmentalized within departments and disconnected from the communities that could benefit from it most. Meanwhile, those same communities faced pressing questions about water quality, flooding, and environmental sustainability that university researchers would be well-equipped to answer.
To address this issue, the faculty founded the Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory, a grassroots initiative designed to break down barriers between the University and the region it serves.
"The Collaboratory was envisioned as a place that would fill the gaps between regional stakeholders—entities like community groups, nonprofits, local governments, agencies —and the university. We’re trying to create a more permanent structure for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and partnerships," offers Jonathan Burgess, the Collaboratory's Director.
The initiative gained traction in 2018 with the Collaboratory's first Heinz Endowments grant, which helped support operations. Megan Lange joined as the first full-time employee in 2019 as Engagement Programs Manager, providing the Collaboratory with the capacity to maintain an active presence within communities.
"In many environmental spaces in the Pittsburgh region, there's unfortunately a lot of silo-ing," Lange observes. "One of our goals was to break down the silos between the university and the community, to say: ‘We are a resource that can be utilized. Let's do research together that can potentially answer a challenge that you are facing.’ We're trying to use research to catalyze change.”
In contrast to some research institutions that operate from a top-down approach, the Collaboratory's research priorities emerged directly from community input.
"When the Collaboratory started, they hosted a session called 'Let's Talk About Water,' and they invited all kinds of professionals from the water and nonprofit world, industry, etc., and said: ‘What do you want to talk about? What do you need to research?’" Lange says.
The result was three community consensus reports focusing on flooding, water quality, and green infrastructure: issues that community members identified as most pressing and where knowledge gaps existed. These reports continue to guide the Collaboratory as it expands its scope from southwest Pennsylvania and the upper Ohio River Basin to some targeted efforts along the entire Basin.
The Collaboratory helps dismantle barriers between the University and the community while also opening avenues for communication within the University itself. Water research touches nearly every field, but Pitt is such a large institution that researchers in one department can be unaware of related research happening just down the road, hindering potential interdisciplinary efforts. Today, the Collaboratory connects roughly 45 faculty members across Pitt who study water in various capacities. The network spans multiple schools and departments, creating opportunities for collaboration and real-world impact.
"Over the last three years in particular, we and our faculty advisory board and partners have been mindful of the need to connect research to action," Burgess notes. "Really targeting resources and efforts where they can tackle not just pressing questions within the community, but questions with answers that lead to policy change, investment or impact that has tangible benefits."
The Collaboratory breaks down barriers by making connections. If a faculty member wants to investigate a water-related question, for example, an anthropologist interested in the history of freshwater resource use or an engineer examining storm water systems, the Collaboratory connects them to external partners interested in those questions. When research is published, the Collaboratory helps ensure it reaches the right audiences, whether residents or elected officials.
"Busy researchers with lab groups and course loads don't necessarily have the time or desire to do the translation to non-expert audiences, particularly politicians," Burgess says. "It's not easy work. In so much as we can help get their knowledge into the hands of those decision makers in a way that's productive, we're happy to do it."
The Collaboratory’s current research initiatives span a range of critical issues. Researchers continue to examine water quality impacts from both legacy and emerging industries. Staff and faculty are conducting water quality monitoring in the Turtle Creek watershed east of Pittsburgh, which faces numerous water quality challenges. An update to the "Measuring Up" report on drinking water systems is in progress, and the team is a part of a larger group finalizing an Ohio River Basin Restoration Plan. Recent publications include research on sewage infrastructure in Pittsburgh and the loss from sewage pipes into groundwater and streams as well as ongoing work on landslides, storm water management, and the environmental impacts of various industrial activities.
Students have also been integral to the Collaboratory's work; nearly every funded project includes graduate or undergraduate student support. The Collaboratory also hosts "Water in a Changing World," a seminar series that brings together students, faculty, and professionals to discuss water projects happening across industry, academia, and nonprofits. Additionally, the Collaboratory provides professional development opportunities, internships, trainings, and field work experience.
“We survey the students to ask what would be of value to them, and how we can create space that is useful for them and their studies. Whether it’s a graduate student pursuing a PhD, or an undergraduate student participating in an internship, we try to create those spaces,” says Lange.
The Collaboratory’s work continues even as federal funding for environmental research has diminished and regulatory rollbacks have accelerated. Yet Burgess and Lange see opportunities even in adversity.
Offers Burgess, "It's certainly a challenging climate. However, it's also not without opportunity. Some of our partners who have recently done public polling have seen super-majority support across the political spectrum for things like access to clean water for drinking, for access to clean spaces to fish, to boat, to hunt, to swim. We see an opportunity to communicate and build new partnerships and understanding in places we may have dismissed or overlooked before."
For alumni interested in supporting or engaging with the Collaboratory's work, opportunities abound. The Collaboratory offers a newsletter, hosts hybrid guest talks and lectures open to the public and welcomes donations through the Department of Geology and Environmental Science’s giving page (note Water Collaboratory in the “Other” line). The team is also eager to hear from alumni working in water-related fields across industry, government, academia, or nonprofits.
"If alumni are doing interesting work, or have expertise to share, we'd love to hear from them," Burgess offers. "It's always great to feature graduates working on water issues."
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