Faculty, Student Work Showcased at Blackstone Heritage Regional Event

Holy Cross students and faculty will be among the presenters at a regional symposium on the Blackstone River Valley Thursday, March 30, beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center.

The symposium, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission’s annual meeting, "Confluence: Where the Blackstone Valley's great minds, places & ideas flow together."

The symposium will be followed by the invitation-only annual meeting and dinner. The John H. Chafee Heritage Awards and other special recognitions will be presented at the dinner.

From 4:30-6:30 p.m., student poster session and partner exhibits will be available for viewing in Hogan Room 320. Holy Cross participants include Laura Rose Condon ’08 and Laura Panko ’08 ("Removing Arsenic Contamination in Water with Phytofiltration") and Catherine A. Roberts, associate professor of mathematics, who will present information on research partnerships in Worcester with the Regional Environmental Council, MassAudubon at Broad Meadow Brook and the EcoTarium.

From 5-6 p.m., the following faculty presentations will take place:

* "Moses Brown and the Beginnings of Industry in the Blackstone Valley" (Hogan Room 402), by Jim Conrad, Jr., professor emeritus of history at Nichols College * "Packachoag and Mount St. James: Nipmuc Indians and the Blackstone Valley" (Hogan Room 408), by Thomas L. Doughton senior lecturer at the Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies. * "Ecology and Biogeochemistry of the Blackstone River's Headwaters and the Role of Undergraduate Research in Future Restoration Plans" (Hogan Room 406), by William V. Sobczak assistant professor of biology.

For more information on the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and the work of the commission that seeks to preserve and revitalize the region, visit www.nps.gov/blac/.