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Last Updated: 11/21/2008

Creating a dynamic educational experience

JMU chemistry professor Dan Downey ('75) couples an invigorating teaching style with research into real-world problems

Chemistry professor Dan Downey ('75) has an impressive list of accomplishments: a 1996 Madison Scholar, he has mentored over 60 JMU undergraduates in research and has grant awards totaling $3 million. As evidenced in this conversation with MadisonOnline editor Jan Gillis ('07), he is rightly proud of his role as an educator, changing students' lives through the power of knowledge.

Jan: You are a JMU grad. When did you come back to Madison to teach, and why did you make that decision?

Dan: I returned in 1985. I was employed as a professor in a Ph.D.-granting institution (West Virginia University) at the time and saw the opportunity to return to Virginia. I am from the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and my wife Carole and I wanted to raise our kids in the valley. JMU was already being recognized as a leading institution in undergraduate education at least in the south and east with a developing national reputation. I wanted to work at an institution where both teaching and research were valued, not just research. Many of my colleagues told me at the time I was crazy to leave a developing career at an R1 institution, [a designation that refers to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, usually R1 institutions are primarily research-driven educational institutions] but they were wrong. JMU was the best move I have ever made.

Undergraduate research provides lifelong skills

Jan: How has JMU changed from your perspective as a student and now faculty member for a number of years?

Dan: The school was a lot smaller, of course, in 1985 than now. Growth has generated both benefits and costs, but as a whole it has been good. I came here with the mindset that I would champion the value of undergraduate research in the education of students in science and other disciplines.

There has always been research active faculty at JMU, but at the time some administrators and others had to be convinced of the value of research in the undergraduate experience. Research is expensive, time consuming and generates minimal credit hour production compared to say, a professor instructing a large lecture section. But the benefits of undergraduate research more than compensate for the costs by bringing students "into the fold" so to speak.

It is not uncommon for students to spend the first several college years in large introductory courses and become disillusioned. I think the undergraduate research experience is a method of teaching; like pure Socratian teaching with the student in a close mentor relationship with the faculty member. Aside from specific knowledge gained from any given project, this discovery-based problem-solving approach to learning provides the student with lifelong learning skills that he or she will use throughout his or her career. So one of the biggest changes that I have witnessed over these 22 years is that JMU institutionally has become much more research active with great support from the administration.

Seeing the need for stream cleanup

Jan: What led to your interest in the environment and, specifically, your concern over the degraded stream conditions in our local area?

Dan: In all fairness, I am a hunter and fisherman from the days of my youth; and I grew up on a farm. I believe that when one is afield in the pursuit of these activities, one gains a better appreciation for the environment. That being said, when I was in West Virginia, I did research involving coal; and I saw many areas of the state that had been ruined by mining, including streams that were yellow-red from acid mine drainage and other places where streams were used as dumping grounds for all the debris that humanity generates. It was then that I became active in organizations like Trout Unlimited that were involved in stream cleanup efforts.

Determining the effects of acid rain

Jan: You and your students have worked on a number of acid rain projects. Can you tell us more about them?

Dan: In the 1980s when I moved from WVU to JMU there was a huge congressionally funded national project ongoing, the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, that examined the extent to which streams were degraded by acid rain.

In 1986 two students in my analytical chemistry class, Terry Macguire and Steve Tiller asked me if they could work on an acid rain-related research project. Up to that time, most of my research at JMU had been "in lab" such as the analytical chemistry of platinum group metals. We consulted with the U.S. Forest Service and identified a stream in Shenandoah County where we began a project of long-term field monitoring and lab analyses that continues today -- over 20 years of data collection.

Stream liming produces significant positive responses

As a follow-up to the monitoring of acid levels in streams, I began thinking whether the acidity could be mitigated by addition of a base material to the stream water. At the time some scientists said stream liming was not feasible, but my research group carefully studied particle size, stream flow regimes, and gradient and other factors to come up with a method to temporarily neutralize acidity in headwater streams. In 1989 we limed a stream and saw significant biological and water chemistry responses. Our method has now been used in more than a dozen streams in Virginia and is being used in other states as well. In working on the various projects we have developed strong ties to both the U.S. Forest Service National Forests in Virginia and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Jan: Your efforts in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at JMU have been crucial from the start. Can you describe the program and its importance to the students that participate?

Dan: Wow, where do I start? First let me point out that undergraduate research -- or research of any kind -- is time consuming and requires large blocks of time when you focus on a project and little else.

During the school year, both students and faculty are always being pulled in many directions -- classes, tests, reports, activities for organizations, etc. Research time becomes limited and fragmented, and it is difficult to maintain continuity and even more difficult to bring projects to fruition. The only really significant blocks of time when one isn't distracted by other activities are Christmas break, spring break or the summer.

It seems only right that if a professor asks students to stay on campus during breaks and work in the lab that they be compensated in some way. That's where grants are important. The chemistry department and several other departments on campus have had a long-standing tradition of seeking external support, and there have been students paid for working on research in the labs as long as I have been here. That being said, most individual faculty grants usually employ one to three students; so there are limited opportunities, depending on the extent of grant success.

Retaining students in the sciences

In the late 1980s, however, the National Science Foundation created the REU, Research Experiences for Undergraduates, intended to retain students in science so that the nation's needs for scientists would be met in the 21st century. At the time, it was feared that attrition of scientists due to retirement and death in the latter 20th century was not going to be offset by those majoring in science in U.S. colleges and universities, a result that could have put the United States at an international economic disadvantage.

The basis of the REU program was that discipline-oriented summer sites would be created at leading research institutions where sophomore- or junior-level undergraduates would go to do research, and nothing else, for two and a half months, the idea being that immersion in research was a means of achieving interest and retention in science. As it turned out, REU has been one of the most productive programs NSF ever sponsored.

In 1989, JMU Vice President for Research Dr. Barbara Costello and I went to NSF where we learned that if JMU was to become nationally recognized for its undergraduate research efforts, it needed to gain REU funding. I prepared a proposal that indicated that JMU would be a great site for REU as we had great faculty, good lab facilities and were well situated geographically for attracting participants from the Appalachian region. JMU also provided a significant commitment of institutional support. The first chemistry site grant was funded in 1990, and we began the summer research program, which has continued to the present year.

Truly we were a small fish in a pond with a lot of large fish. Of the 60-plus sites supported nationally in chemistry by REU only a handful were based at principally undergraduate institutions, and those were a who's who list of schools. The remainder of the schools supported with REU funding included top-level R1 institutions around the country.

The REU has provided great opportunities for undergraduate research in our department--198 summer students supported to date. In addition the existence of REU has, in part, enabled us to gain other grants, an additional 208 summer students supported since 1990.

We are up for another renewal. If we are funded, there should be 14 students each summer supported by REU for the next three years. Thanks to the efforts of my colleagues Dr. Gina MacDonald in chemistry and Dr. Brenda Seal in communication sciences and disorders, we have extended the summer research program to include students who are deaf. We have also been pleased to see materials science, biology and math all gaining REU site funding, which makes the JMU College of Science and Mathematics one of the few in the nation with this many multiple REU summer sites.

Environmental chemistry research a current focus

Jan: What current projects are you involved in?

Dan: Research in this group is currently focusing on three areas of environmental chemistry research. Inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry, or ICP/MS, is being studied for the analysis of trace elements in fish otoliths (ear stones). Otoliths are aragonitic calcium carbonates crystals that grow continuously during the life of a fish, developing growth annuli (similar to tree rings) that are used for age determination and uptake trace elements from their surroundings. We are developing analytical methodology for freshwater species that are collected from streams and lakes where toxic metals (mercury, lead, chromium, etc.) have been introduced and laser ablation for direct analysis of solid samples.

A second area of research is in the analysis of endocrine disrupting compounds, or EDCs, in natural waters, especially as may be connected to the recent widespread fish kills occurring in the Shenandoah River system. Currently we are studying methods for the determination of estrogens in stream water in relation to the widespread occurrence of intersex male fish found in the Potomac and other rivers in the mid-Atlantic region by adaptation of a gas chromatography-electron impact ionization-mass spectrometry method.

The third area of research has been application of ion chromatography and other methods for assessment of "acid-rain" impacts. Field data are collected for these studies for several long-term projects (more than 15 years) and are used to help fisheries' managers develop mitigation management strategies. Students involved in these projects will collect samples in the national forests or state game lands of Virginia and return them to the laboratory for analysis. Data generated will be used to assess the relative impact of acid deposition on water bodies.

Future goals: finding solutions, enhancing teaching and research

Jan: What are your goals for the future?

Dan: Aside from the research lab and fieldwork I've already described, I am heavily involved in the Shenandoah River fish-kill issue, including serving as a member of the Research Advisory Committee. I hope that we can figure out the cause(s) of the fish kills and come up with a solution. Beyond this I have been working for the past several years on creating a field research station at an old Civilian Conservation Corps-era camp in the mountains to be owned and operated by JMU. This station would serve for environmental and cultural research and teaching and would include an observatory operated by the physics department. At this point the progress of that has stalled but it would be gratifying to see it come to fruition sometime down the road.

Taking pride in students

Jan: You have an impressive list of professional accomplishments. Is there anything you are most proud of?

Dan: In working with students in the laboratory and in the field as a team doing research, one develops a bond that is beyond the ordinary professor/student interaction typical of a classroom. In fact, I often jokingly refer to my research students as my "chemical" sons and daughters. After graduation, I try to maintain contact with as many as possible. Some have gone on to achieve Ph.D.s themselves and others work as teachers, dentists, physicians, lab-bench chemists or stay-at-home moms. Whatever they have done, I am proud of their accomplishments. Professionally, that is what is most important to me.

Science, education in the future

Jan: What role do you think scientists in your field will play in changing the world for the better?

Dan: What a loaded question! I once heard Homer Simpson say,"Here's to alcohol: the cause of and solution to all of life's problems!"

In reflection, perhaps we could paraphrase: "Here's to scientists: the cause of and solution to all the world's environmental problems!" Perhaps that is a bit rough, but maybe an example will serve.

In southwest Virginia there is a stream called the North Fork of the Holston River. It flows through a little town called Saltville. Right alongside this stream from the 1950s to the 1970s Olin Manufacturing Company used the salt from the mines there to make chlorine and sodium hydroxide. This process used electrolysis of brine water that had been discovered and developed by scientists and engineers. From a scientific standpoint the best cathode to use in the electrolysis process was metallic mercury. Unfortunately large amounts -- 500,000 pounds -- of mercury were discharged into the river, which became highly contaminated. The discharge later led to the closure of the plant and degradation of the quality of life in that area. It could be argued that science created this problem. However, in all fairness, the hazards of mercury were not well understood at the time the problem developed. Now the area is an Environmental Protection Agency superfund site and is being cleaned up, and scientists guide this effort. So it could be argued that science has provided a solution.

It is an overstatement, of course, to say that science has created all the world's environmental problems. In fact, many environmental problems are due to the ignorance of science such as cleaning of contaminated water, crop and food production, disease control, etc. Truly ignorance is not bliss; education and information are essential for addressing environmental problems.

Creating a unique, interesting educational experience

Jan: Do you have any other comments you'd like to share with our readers?

Dan: I've said a great deal about research; and as you can see, I remain a champion of its involvement in changing student lives. However, teaching is the primary interaction between professors and students; and I believe it is imperative to make that experience as unique and interesting as possible. Over the years I've developed three upper-level classes that I feel have had a powerful, positive effect on our students.

Soon after coming to JMU I created a course in nuclear chemistry. The course includes lab work with radioactive materials and trips to a research reactor and a power-generating reactor. Over the years, students have really benefited from this course. They've received job offers because they knew how to work with radioactive materials in the lab. This is a skill that was once commonplace, but few universities now offer such coursework.

Another upper-level course that students really enjoy is a field course in environmental chemistry I offer every May after finals. We travel to sites of environmental interest, take samples and return them to the lab for analysis and interpretation. Often we meet with professionals in the field who offer their perspective on issues. This course brings home to students the value of the laboratory work environmental scientists do as tied to real issues of consequence. I have seen students really take on a new perspective as a result of this class.

Finally, the most recent addition to upper-level offerings is a course I created last spring in environmental chemistry without lab. This lecture-only class is based on environmental problems that are rooted in chemistry and coming up with solutions after developing a complete chemical understanding. Students really responded positively to this class, and I will continue offering it in the future.

Learn more; share your story

To learn more about the professor and undergraduate research opportunities at JMU, contact Downey at downeydm@jmu.edu. Send story ideas for MadisonOnline to gillisjc@jmu.edu. Or, nominate other professors, alumni, students and parents who are changing the world (or their part of it) at www.jmu.edu/bethechange.