Land & Environment

River Whisperer: Intel Scholar Joins Mentor in USU's Watershed Program

A day of river wading, examining aquatic life and learning water testing skills yielded a longtime mentoring relationship between a Utah State University professor and a budding teen scientist, who has garnered impressive awards in national and international science competitions.


Aggie freshman Shannon Babb and Nancy Mesner, associate dean of USU's College of Natural Resources, met when Babb, then a middle school student, participated in a watershed science workshop Mesner led for USU Water Quality Extension. In the ensuing years, the two stayed in touch as Babb, who was named the 2006 Intel Science Scholar and three-time state winner of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, sought guidance from Mesner and conducted water research projects in her Utah County community.

"Intel's science talent search is like the holy grail in youth science research," says Babb, of the prize that carries a $100,000 college scholarship.

Recipients of the prestigious award have gone on to become Nobel laureates, National Medal of Science winners and MacArthur Foundation fellows.

During a whirlwind of activities surrounding Intel's awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., where she had the opportunity to meet President Bush, Babb was invited to publicly thank one person who helped her achieve success. Babb chose Mesner. "I chose Nancy Mesner because, as a woman scientist, she was a positive role model for me and introduced me a host of learning opportunities in watershed science - the start of an amazing journey," she says.

Babb, who graduated with multiple honors from American Fork High School in 2006 and was sought by numerous universities around the country, chose Utah State as her college destination. "USU's Watershed Sciences Department is one of the few of its kind in the world," she says.

Nowadays, Babb, who wields the tools of her trade - a kick net, a turbidity tube and a dissolved oxygen testing kit - with familiar ease, has a curriculum vitae rivaling those of doctoral candidates. Since her initial meeting with Mesner, she's conducted exhaustive research on four rivers that flow into and out of Utah Lake - studies that have captured the attention of water scientists, government water professionals and legislators.

Her six-month longitudinal study, Troubled Waters, in which she determined causes of pollution in Utah's Spanish Fork River and identified remediation strategies, won her the Intel prize. From May through October 2003, Shannon and her father awoke at 4 a.m. several days a month to perform chemical, physical and biological tests at sites on the river's primary tributaries, Thistle Creek, Soldier Creek and the Diamond Fork River, as well as sites upstream and downstream from the city of Spanish Fork.

This past year, Babb completed a yet-to-be-published study, Deadly Waters: A Twelve-Month Water Quality Study of a Newly Erupted Sulfur Spring and its Longitudinal Effect on Diamond Fork Creek. Her study reveals the source of milky white hydrogen sulfide in a Spanish Fork River tributary. Last summer, she presented her findings to a rapt audience of members of the Water Environment Association of Utah.

Along the way, says Babb, Mesner has helped her secure equipment, locate sources and interpret results. Mesner, she says, set her straight when she misidentified a species of aquatic invertebrate or got a false reading because she had taken a sample at the wrong time of day.

Many have asked Mesner how she mentored Babb. "I always answer, 'What Shannon's accomplished, she's done herself,'" says Mesner, who serves as associate professor of water quality and program leader for USU Natural Resources Extension. "My job is simply to plant a lot of little intellectual seeds and provide a little nourishment along the way."

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