Vivien Doucette

Project Reflection
According to our project, there is little to no human health effects know. Only for a very
small amount time was the water dangerous for long term human consumption. Ecological
impacts seemed to also be very rare, and hard to detect after such a small amount of time.
Currently there is knowledge of some crops failing after accidentally coming in contact with
them, but so far, it seems to be the only knowledge known of the sort. Fortunately no one has
come out about health problems from the plume, but only time will be able. The event was not
long ago, and more time needs to be passed for us to determine the true effects.
The Animas River runs through the heart of the mountains and provides a lifeline for
many living organisms. The northern Animas river is in a exceptionally mineral rich area that has
long been a resource for humans to collect valuable minerals and metals. Even though mining
has been the only blame for the acid mine drainage that was present in the Gold King Mine, it is
also partly a natural problem. When rain gets through fractures in the mountains, it them mixes
with oxygen and these substance, mostly iron, to create the sludge, but then mining allows the
acid mine drainage expands and down towards other tunnels. It has been pointed out even
though Acid Mine Drainage is natural, the intense mining of the San Juan Basin has made the
problem even more important.
To what degree do scientists have an obligation to communicate
scientific concepts and data to the public in an understandable manner?
Scientists have an obligation to communicate scientific concepts and data to the public
in an understandable manner because, the data becomes not only useless, but can become
deceiving. The average citizen should be able to interrupt data and concepts themselves so that
they know that they were not given a biased perspective, of course thats only if the data
collected is fair and balanced.

How has your understanding of scientific knowledge and/or the

process of doing science changed throughout the semester as youve examined
and manipulated data collected by professional scientists and performed
analogous experiments to collect and analyze your own data?
At the beginning of the year I knew plenty about writing up reports, and the scientific process,
but I never learned how to apply them to relevant problems, and used the process in a
professional setting. Due to the multiple labs at the Fort, I have gained a more hand on
knowledge and a much deeper understanding of the scientific process. I have also been able to
see a situation for science becomes a highly relevant and important tool to answer questions
and criticize, data given to us.