Water Scholar Awardee Spring 2023: Colin Finlay

Colin Finlay grew up in Jackson, Wyoming near the Grand Teton Mountains. During his childhood, he spent a lot of time outdoors and explored the “beautiful wilderness” of his home state.

His excitement for nature and passion for the environment has brought him to the field of science, and ultimately into ECU’s master’s program in biology with a focus on environmental and organismic biology.

As a Spring 2023 Water Scholar for the Water Resources Center, Finlay is currently working on the following project: “Filling gaps and maintaining resilience in Town Creek water quality monitoring.”

Finlay said Town Creek in Greenville, NC is one of the main tributaries to the Tar River. The City of Greenville, he said, invested in 2020 in a so-called Green Stormwater Infrastructure to help with flooding in the area.

The installment, Finlay said, can also treat nutrients that can have a negative impact on the Tar River, and the surrounding water systems, all the way out to the coast.

Colin Finlay is taking an inventory of damaged water sensors at Town Creek in Greenville, North Carolina. His project concentrates on replacing sensors to insure proper water quality and quantity monitoring at the Tar-Pamlico River Basin. (Contributed photo)

“There are simply too many nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus accumulating in the Green Stormwater Infrastructure,” Finlay said. “The real issues are that these nutrients accumulate in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin as a whole, and cause eutrophication in the Albemarle Pamlico Estuary. So yes, it gives protection for flooding, but it also helps decrease some of those needed nutrient loads.”

Researchers from the Water Resources Center then started a water quality and quantity monitoring, he said, to collect data on the nutrients with the help of sensors.

Undergraduate and graduate programs at ECU started looking at the data, Finlay said, which caused him to have an interest in the Town Creek site too. His Water Scholar project, he said, contributes to course-based research in Microbial Ecology, Geology, and Engineering, and involves the help of other students.

“As I looked more into the site, I noticed a lot of the sensors were having issues like they need parts replaced, or the whole sensor needs to be replaced,” Finlay said. “So, I started taking an inventory of the damaged sensors and later found out that there are gaps in the water quality data due to dying sensors.”

The goals of the Water Scholars project, he said, are to replace the broken sensors and go out to the Town Creek site each month to check the status of the equipment, making sure correct data is being documented.

As of right now, Finlay said, he prepared a budget for the new sensors and ordered all needed parts. He said the parts will be delivered in May and will be installed in the same month. The funding received by the Water Resources Center, he said, is all going to be used for each needed replacement.

“Each month for the remainder of at least 2023, I will be going out and testing the sensors, as well as replacing them,” Finlay said. “I hope I will be able to work on the project past this year and accomplish other goals I have set at the site. As long as there is funding for it, we will be able to keep going!”

Finlay said his motivation for the project comes from seeing the value in green stormwater infrastructure for both environmental and urban health.

With cities investing in low impact development or nature-based solutions, such as in Greenville, he said, makes him excited because they improve water quality.

“These technologies offer cleaner water and flood protection, while also protecting biodiversity and mitigating nutrient pollution,” Finlay said. “These may be powerful solutions to environmental issues, but we need to find out more about how effective they are, and how to improve the designs for specific ends, like nutrient treatment.”

Being part of this research, Finlay said, gives him hope for healthier cities and ecosystems.

About Me

Name: Colin Finlay

Age: 25

College: Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences

Classification/Focus: Second-year master’s student in Biology with a focus on Environmental and Organismic Biology

Hometown: Jackson, Wyoming

Bachelor of Science: Microbiology and Molecular Biology

Dream job: Faculty Position in the Mountains (West Coast, USA)

Future Plans

Ph.D: Summer 2023, Interdisciplinary Doctorate Biology Program within the ECU Biology Department

Fellowship: Coastal Community Environmental Data Scholars Fellowship