FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 20, 1999
Avondale, PA – With help from renowned environmentalist, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and corporate sponsor, Wilmington Trust, the Stroud Water Research Center plans the grand opening of the nations only Streamhouse. This new $600,000 research and education Streamhouse is a greenhouse with its own indoor stream ecosystem and watershed teaching area.
At 2:30 p.m., Kennedy will explore the site and wade through the White Clay Creek with Dr. Bernard W. Sweeney, Director of the Stroud Water Research Center. A press conference will be held at that time.
Following his 4 p.m. lecture, Our Environmental Destiny, Mr. Kennedy will officially christen the Streamhouse with a bucketful of clean water, produced from the White Clay Creek watershed, instead of the traditional bottle of champagne. Splashing the new facility with water will mark its beginning as a distinctive source of new research data and education programs for restoring and protecting water quality throughout the world.
I look forward to seeing the Streamhouse at the Stroud Water Research Center in Chester County, Pennsylvania, said Kennedy, an environmental attorney who has championed a variety of water protection issues. The scientific research accomplished at Stroud is vital to the understanding of watershed ecosystems and thus vital to litigation surrounding water issues.
Corporate sponsor, Wilmington Trust, has supported Stroud for several years. Mark Graham, Regional Manager of Wilmington Trusts Pennsylvania operations adds, as a company that specializes in the growth and protection of wealth, it is very natural for us to value, appreciate, and support the commitment the Center has made to the growth and protection of water. We are pleased to partner with them on this momentous occasion.
The 1600 square-foot Streamhouse, connected to the Center’s lecture hall, research and teaching areas, includes a pair of flowing stream ecosystems teeming with plant and animal life, including aquatic insects, mussels, crayfish, and fish. The streams are supplied constantly with water diverted from the White Clay Creek, a tributary of the nearby Delaware River. The artificial streams are used for both research and education efforts in order to increase public understanding and appreciation of streams, rivers, and watersheds.
Through observation decks, viewing windows, and hands-on activities, the Streamhouse will provide a protected place where the public can see stream and river science in action. said Dr. Bernard W. Sweeney, Director of Stroud Water Research Center. Putting stream research and science education programs side-by-side was a conscious effort to show how restoring and maintaining high water quality depends on good science and public awareness.
According to Sweeney, the Streamhouse space and its wet laboratory equipment allows researchers to explore stream ecology up close with experiments in a controlled environment and educators to demonstrate specific aquatic ecology regardless of season or weather. It will operate continuously in order to accommodate scientists and students all year.
The Streamhouse was made possible by a number of generous philanthropic gifts especially from Roger Milliken, Rodman Moorhead, and the DuPont Company.
Established in 1967, the Stroud Water Research Center is one of the premier stream research laboratories in North America. It is internationally recognized for its pioneering research, and for its commitment to advancing the knowledge of stream and river ecology. The Center’s mission is to increase public understanding of flowing water ecosystems, the organisms that inhabit them, and the natural and human related activities which affects them. In addition to its own initiatives, the Center undertakes research projects for governmental agencies and industrial clients who seek solutions to problems resulting from man-made modification of stream channels and water pollution. The Center’s unique education programs arise from this research foundation.
Tucked away in the hills of Avondale, Pennsylvania, the Stroud Water Research Center and its 800-acre experimental watershed provide a living laboratory that serves all who wish to preserve the quality of one of our most valuable resources-water. The Center is located at 970 Spencer Road, on the East Branch of the White Clay Creek, approximately 40 miles southwest of Philadelphia, in Avondale, PA, 19311. For information call 610-268-2153. Or visit www.stroudcenter.org.
Wilmington Trust Pennsylvania headquarters are located in Villanova, PA. Other Pennsylvania locations are in Haverford, Lionville, Media, and West Chester, Westtown and downtown Philadelphia.
Wilmington Trust (NYSE:WL) is a financial services company with 2,400 employees in offices in California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, and London, England. It is the 11th largest provider of personal trust in the U.S. Founded in 1903, Wilmington Trust provides wealth management, corporate trust, and commercial banking services to customers throughout the United States and in more than 50 other countries. For more information about Wilmington Trust, visit www.wilmingtontrust.com.