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At your service
By Shari Gasper
Post-Mining Possibilities
Dahl's regional design students have taken on mine land reclamation projects as well. In 1999, student teams entered a national design competition to develop plans for the future of a limestone and gravel mine in Carmel, Ind. Purdue teams received the second and third prizes in the competition.
Students Kevin Heller, Angela Tomlin and Geoffrey Gerring submitted the design that received second place. According to Heller, the team wanted to establish a design that was sustainable and created a unique sense of place. The design included a botanical garden and a revitalization of the existing riverway green space.
Now living in Kentland, Ind., and employed as a landscape architect for Hitchcock Design Group out of Naperville, Ill., Heller says the project was "a great opportunity to interface with site managers and local residents and to develop a sense of true regional design."
Jeremy Helton, who was on the team placing third in the competition, is currently a landscape architect in Chicago. His team came up with a master plan for the future of the site, incorporating housing development, farming, orchards, and wastewater management and treatment facilities.
"I gained an appreciation of environmental issues and concerns of the community, as well as a better understanding of the mining process," says Helton. "Our plan turned an excavated mine site into usable land again."
Service learning projects are an ideal way for students to see their designs come to life. And research on service learning reports a number of positive outcomes. "It is clear that students have made significant contributions to various communities, while enhancing their own education and careers," says Dahl.
Through service learning, students simultaneously become learners, teachers, achievers and leaders.
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