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Learn about Worcester's history with the Blackstone River!
The American Industrial Revolution was powered by New England rivers. Worcester, MA, an inland city, is located over 100 km west of Boston, MA and 100 km north of Providence, RI. Despite this seemingly geographic limitation, the city emerged as a hub for urban development, attracted diverse industries and workers, and produced pivotal technologies due to its cultural and geographic relationship with the Blackstone River. The river’s forested headwaters provide high water quality and predictable annual discharge regimes, thus allowing the industrial riparian zone to extend south through Rhode Island with a final destination of Narragansett Bay. The Blackstone River was “the hardest working river in the world” during the initial industrial revolution for about 20 years. Learn about the Blackstone River’s biogeochemistry, community ecology, hydrology, and restoration initiatives at the watershed scale. You'll also hear about recent education and community-based learning initiatives at College of the Holy Cross and the larger Worcester community that may be strategically adapted for other inland rivers with industrial legacies. Urban rivers and watersheds are under-appreciated and under-valued.
Dr. William V. Sobczak is a Professor of Biology at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Professor Sobczak has instructed numerous ecology related classes in the Department of Biology for 23 years. Dr. Sobczak received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in Ecosystem Ecology in 1999 and was a Post-doctoral Hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA before arriving at Holy Cross. Sobczak has over 30 years of experience studying rivers and watersheds throughout the Northern Hemisphere. His research led him to be a consultant with the California Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the state’s water diversion operations and he served as a member of the Blackstone River Coalition’s Board of Directors. In addition to publications on the stream ecology and biogeochemistry of New England watersheds, he has published works examining permafrost melt and impacts on Siberian Rivers and the Arctic Ocean. Prof. Sobczak has worked with undergraduate students and community leaders throughout Worcester’s Blackstone River Watershed for over two decades.
AGE GROUP: | Adult |
EVENT TYPE: | Education & Learning Programs | Community & Local Interest |
