By Mathias Habal-Shore, Y11
Micheal Rimer (Y12) is leading a team of students in collaborating with EPFL, FOEN, and ASL, to clean up the lake, and study the data they collect in doing so. To find out more, we had the opportunity to interview him.
- Can you give us an overview of what the project is?
The lake cleanup team is a project that works in 2 stages. We have an internal goal and an external goal. Our internal goal is to make Ecolint more sustainable and remove litter from our watershed, and our external goal is to collect 12 data sets in a reliable manner that are then shared with the FOEN (the Federal Office for the Environment).
- What inspired you to start this project?
Over the summer I went on a pilgrimage to the source of the Rhone with my cousin, walking 322 km. We were working as field researchers for ASL, collecting trash along the Rhone and mapping where the trash in order to find hotspots. When I was done I knew there was still a lot of work to be done.
- Why is this project important?
In general, aquatic plants make up for 50% of the oxygen we breathe. If we don’t maintain the water to a quality where ecosystems grow, we are doomed.
- How did you plan the project?
I’m working with the STEM center, where we work every Wednesday morning break. The team looks at 4 different sections: data collection, data interpretation, ecology, and materials.
- What is your goal for the project?
Make sure that people who are educated at the level we are being educated know the effects of throwing a piece of trash on the ground. What’s to say that if we throw a piece of trash on the ground on campus we aren’t doing the same at the lake?
- How many people are involved in the project?
Currently the group consists of 20 students, and 5 people outside who are coders and researchers, some of whom are at EPFL.
7. What problems did you encounter in your project?
Year group restrictions caused by COVID forced the club to stop for a little, and having the math skills necessary for some of the data analysis was also a problem.
8. How much trash have you picked up since you started the project?
We have been surveying sites that are not heavily polluted, but we have collected about 5 kg of trash, most of which is small plastics. Once we start surveying more heavily polluted sites those numbers should go up quite a bit.
The lake cleanup team is a great club for all, especially those interested in getting more involved with environmental activism and climate change. They meet every Wednesday morning break from 10:30-55 in the STEM centre. Check them out on instagram @lake.cleanup.geneva!
