WSU Cougar Head Logo Washington State University
WSU Insider
News and Information for Faculty, Staff, and the WSU Community

Grant brings science of stormwater pollution to businesses

By Scott Weybright, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences

stormwater-logo-80pPUYALLUP, Wash. – Businesses in the Puget Sound watershed must navigate a complex series of stormwater runoff regulations and permits. But business owners often don’t understand why those regulations exist.

lisa-rozmyn
Lisa Rozmyn

Thanks to a $95,000 grant from the Boeing Global Corporate Citizenship Program, the Washington Stormwater Center will help businesses understand those regulations and why they’re essential to good stormwater management. The center plans to start creating the various outreach projects in January.

“We hear about pollution, but you often can’t directly see it,” said Lisa Rozmyn, business resource program manager at the center. “We’re trying to bring science to a level that businesses can relate to.”

Translating research into practical assistance

The center is a collaboration between Washington State University and the University of Washington. Its mission: protect Washington’s waters through research, innovation and outreach.

tanyalee-erwin
Tanyalee Erwin

The grant is the center’s newest opportunity to blend WSU’s stormwater runoff research with outreach and extend it to the business community in the Puget Sound area, said Tanyalee Erwin, assistant director of the center.

“We were established by the state legislature as a technical, nonpartisan entity to work with both the regulators and the regulated,” she said. “Nobody wants to be told to do something for no reason, especially if it’s expensive or cumbersome.

“We’re leveraging our research to show why stormwater management is important to the health of Puget Sound,” she said.

Understanding business impact

The center has been working with businesses for a few years, but the grant will allow for new forms of communication and outreach, Rozmyn said. That includes hosting webinars, creating animated informative videos and producing a video about the science behind the Puget Sound’s biggest pollution problem: stormwater runoff.

The new outreach tools will explain the “why” behind regulations so businesses are empowered to make better choices and play a role in cleaning up Puget Sound.

“It’s all about using the great science done at WSU and UW, and the credibility we have in this area, and extending it to small businesses to help them understand the impact they can have,” Erwin said.

 

News media contacts:
Tanyalee Erwin, Washington Stormwater Center, 253-445-4504, terwin@wsu.edu
Lisa Rozmyn, Washington Stormwater Center, 253-445-4552, lisa.rozmyn@wsu.edu

 

Next Story

Recent News

Jessica Bunch recognized for excellence in veterinary rehabilitation

Washington State University veterinarian and assistant professor Dr. Jessica Bunch was recently awarded one of the highest national honors for veterinarians specializing in rehabilitation — the 2023 John J. Sherman III Award for Excellence in Veterinary Rehabilitation.

WSU Vice President Chaudhry honored by university in Romania

Asif J. Chaudhry, vice president of WSU’s Office of International Programs and WSU Pullman vice chancellor, was recently awarded the title Doctor Honoris Causa of Ovidius University in Constanta, Romania.

Ji Yun Lee receives NSF CAREER award for community resilience research

The assistant professor in WSU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering received the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career award for her work helping communities better prepare for wildfires.

WSU Spokane Medicine Building opens in August

The transformed building will be a central hub for the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and expand the educational capacity for WSU’s College of Nursing and College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Find More News

Subscribe for more updates