Welcome
Thank you for a great July picnic
Our July meeting included a picnic near the dam removal site in the Metroparks location near the Highland Road entrance.
The image of the purple coneflower - a good native choice for Ohio landscapes - comes from The Wild Ones. Coneflowers attract butterflies and birds. The image of the tree comes from our photo contest.
August meeting
Come to our Tuesday, August 2 meeting to hear guest speaker Lou Rifici talk about water quality monitoring in the Euclid Creek.
Our meetings normally start at 6:30PM at the South Euclid Community Center, 1370 Victory Drive (north off Mayfield, next to Giant Eagle). Meetings are free and open to the public.
Upper Cuyahoga River Tour - Sat., June 18
Thank you to Ginny Aveni and everyone else for planning this event.
Euclid Beach Blast!
FOEC plans to sponsor a table at this wonderful July 16 event. 
FOEC officers and directors
Congratulations go to Ken and Carolyn as they were voted in at our July meeting to continue in their positions in September. Here is a list of current officers.
Current Officers
President: Frank Skala
1st Vice President: Larry McFadden
2nd Vice President: Gary Bloom
Secretary: Jeanette Evans
Treasurer: Ken Messinger-Rapport
Please visit regularly
See these wonderful sites for interesting information about environmental issues related to the Euclid Creek watershed.
Claire Posius' Soil and Water Conservation District Enews-Letter athttp://www.cuyahogaswcd.org/EuclidCreekFiles/enewsletter.htm - Thank you Claire! Please send comments and contibutions to Claire at http://us.mc1803.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=cposius@cuyahogaswcd.org
FOEC website at http://friendsofeuclidcreek.nhlink.net/index.htm - Thank you Miering! Please send comments and contributions to Miering at http://us.mc1803.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=friendsofeuclidcreek@gmail.com
Highland Heights Green Task force meeting minutes http://www.highlandhtsgreen.com/
Thank you to Lou Rifici
Lou Rifici makes a huge contribution to our efforts at monitoring quality of the the Euclid Creek. He scheduled pickup of the equipment and performs calibration and setup for the volunteers who complete stream monitoring at the various designated locations along the Euclid Creek.
If you would like more information about how to become a volunteer in this important program, please contact jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net.
Lou has also agreed to speak to our group about stream monitoring. Here is some information about Lou's impressive background.
Louis M. Rifici is a biologist, environmental scientist, and assistant professor of Environmental, Health and Safety Technology and Biology at Cuyahoga Community College in Northeastern Ohio. Mr. Rifici worked as an environmental scientist (1989 - 1999) prior to joining the faculty of Cuyahoga Community College. He focused on freshwater ecology as an undergraduate and particularly enjoyed field work in rivers and streams.
He entered the working world as a research technician and worked for two Cleveland chemical companies, before leaving for graduate studies in ecotoxicology. As a graduate student he learned to bioassay industrial effluents and evaluate their toxicity and ecological effects.
He worked with fellow graduate students and professors to gain hands-on experience with a variety of field evaluation techniques at wastewater sources like coal-fired power plants and paper mills. His graduate thesis describes his study of fathead minnow larvae, a commonly-used bioassay organism. A portion of his thesis was published in the international journal, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (Volume 15, Issue 8 (August 1996)).
After graduation, Mr. Rifici was employed as an ecotoxicologist with environmental consulting firms in Virginia, Florida, and Ohio and a chemical manufacturer in Pennsylvania. His duties varied and included performing laboratory bioassay or toxicity testing of wastewaters, commercial products, and pesticides.
He is currently involved in local protection efforts in the Euclid Creek (Ohio) and Mill Creek watersheds.
