MEDIA ADVISORY: MU Researchers to Plant 777 Trees to Begin Study on Storm Water Management

Story Contact(s):
Christian Basi, BasiC@missouri.edu, 573-882-4430

WHAT: Jason Hubbart, an assistant professor of forest hydrology and water quality in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, and Enos Inniss, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering, will be planting 777 willow trees near Hinkson Creek as part of a research project studying storm water and flood plain management.

Hubbart and Innis are collaborating on the project with Campus Facilities Landscape Services. During the two-year project, Hubbart and Inniss will study how the trees help the soil absorb more water and disperse it into the atmosphere before it reaches the waterway. Results from the study could be used to develop a national model for areas that are prone to pollution from water runoff.

WHO: Hubbart, Inniss and several students will be planting the trees.

WHEN: 9 a.m., Thursday, March 22

WHERE: Hinkson Field, located on the southeast corner of Providence Road and Mick Deaver Memorial Drive, across from the Life Science Business Incubator. The entrance to Hinkson Field is off of Mick Deaver Memorial Drive.

NOTE: The two-year study is being funded, in part, by the Environmental Protection Agency and MU Extension.