Trine student makes a splash with local environmental project

If you don’t know how rain barrels help the environment, a Trine University student’s project for the Steuben County Lakes Council (SCLC) can help you learn.

Trine University sophomore Clay Batio, a business administration major from Muncie, Indiana, recently completed a rain barrel display for the SCLC as part of his project management class.

The project demonstrates a functioning rain barrel and how they prevent pollution from entering waterways. It debuted at the 35^th Annual Indiana Lakes Management Conference at Pokagon State Park in March and was again a hit at the Northeast Indiana Solid Waste Management District’s Earth Day event.

Visually appealing, educational

Linda Cooper, assistant professor in Trine’s Ketner School of Business, assigned the project. She connected Batio with Steve Schroeder, an active member of the SCLC, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the county’s lakes and streams.

Batio’s project involved building a rain barrel display for the Steuben County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), the main MS4 authority for the unincorporated areas of Steuben County. MS4 stands for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, and the SWCD is responsible for managing stormwater runoff and implementing programs to prevent pollution from entering waterways.

"The overall purpose of the project was to create a visually appealing display to help educate the public," Batio wrote in his business case.  "This will be used at the Steuben County 4-H Fair and other county festivals; the annual Youth Conservation Day for Steuben County fourth-graders; and other public presentations attended by SWCD."

The display is not just informative, it's also designed to be portable and easy to set up and tear down.

"This project has been a great learning experience for me," Batio said. "Getting to work on a real-world project that will benefit the community has been very rewarding. I'm grateful to Prof. Cooper for connecting me with Steve, and to Steve for his mentorship throughout this project."

Schroeder echoed Batio’s sentiment.

"Working with Clay on this project has been a pleasure," Schroeder said. "He was very enthusiastic and eager to learn. I'm confident that the skills he gained from this project will be a valuable asset to him in his future career."

"This is a great example of how our business school curriculum can be used to address real-world needs in our community," Cooper said. "I'm proud of Clay's initiative and accomplishments, and I look forward to seeing the rain barrel display continue to educate the public about the importance of protecting our waterways."