Phillip Cravatt  

phillip.cravatt@okstate.edu
(405) 269-9038
Water is an important component for future survival. To maintain water as a sustainable resource we must be stewards of our environment and make proper decisions regarding water issues. As a graduate I will focus on water quality with background study in soil science. I think these two fields will present important environmental issues for many years to come.

My research will involve the study of the effluent inputs into the Verdigris River near Claremore, Oklahoma from a facility that produces fertilizer. The research will determine the current status and temporal trends in abundance and taxa richness of the fish and macroinvertebrates. Abiotic parameters will be characterized in-stream to produce a chemical profile of the water. Laboratory manipulations of the effluent and associated bioassays will determine how pH shifts effect toxicity due to ammonia.

“The noblest of all elements is water”
Pindar, 476 B.C.

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water”
Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790) Poor Richard’s Almanac.

“The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives”
Native American Saying

“The life of every river sings its own song, but in most the song is long marred by the discords of misuse”
Aldo Leopold (1886-1948), Sand County Almanac

“If there is a magic on the planet, it is contained in Water”
Loren Eiseley, The Immense Journey, 1957