Mikaela Sako
Doctoral Student - Dr. McManamay
Environmental Science
My research at Baylor includes the study of green infrastructure, urbanization and development impacts on aquatic systems in proximity to college and university campuses. I have characterized campuses across the country by their development risk to aquatic systems and ranked them from highest to lowest risk. My studies investigated different levels of development on these watersheds to determine potential mitigation provided by sustainable development on college and university campuses. My additional research at Baylor includes the study of natural areas and urban lands, specifically water quality parameters. My current study is investigating the potential urbanization mitigation provided by natural land within urban areas. This research proposes to collect water samples along waterways in Austin, TX that begin in urban areas and flow through natural areas before joining larger water bodies. By analyzing water samples from multiple points along waterways that flow through urban and natural areas, we hope to determine if natural areas act as "buffers" by filtering out pollutants and other contaminants before they enter larger waterbodies. This project will utilize a constructed water quality monitoring device: the Water Assessment and Testing Remote Vehicle (WATR-Vehicle). This device incorporates top water quality sensors simultaneously for integrated, spatially, and temporally aligned data sets. The anticipated outcomes of the research include observing improvements in water quality as it travels through natural areas and identifying the specific pollutants and nutrients that are removed by the natural areas.