The new research fellow with Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK) is planning to monitor three river sites for an entire year.
"Monitoring these sites particularly will help contrast and compare how the upstream site will compare with these two downstream sites and the health of the river," said Molly McKeon.
McKeon is the 2023 ORK Research Fellow. Her year-long fellowship project will focus on monitoring upstream sites at Rocky Ford.
Sites will include a soon-to-close textile plant, and a site where Black Creek meets the Ogeechee River, downstream of the new Electric Vehicle (EV) plant development.
McKeon is a first-generation graduate student at Georgia Southern University on the Statesboro campus. She is currently pursuing a masters in biology and works in the lab of Dr. Checo Colón-Gaud.
She worked as a research assistant under a National Science Foundation Research Experience for post-baccalaureate grant for a year prior to joining the master’s program in August 2022.
Originally from the Metro Detroit area, McKeon participated in the National Science Foundation’s Instars and Emerge programs for underrepresented students.
She has a passion for urban community aquatic ecology and taxonomy work.
The ORK research fellowship was created in 2022 and is underwritten by investments secured from the 2011 fish kill settlement.
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