Gregory Ewing (first left) pours cement mix that will be used to make a concrete water filter in the basement of the College of Engineering building on U-M’s North Campus.  University of Michigan students who are members of the Project Pantanal group are building a trial version of a water sand filter.  They plan on introducing the filters in Brazilian schools in the area of  the largest wetlands in the Western hemisphere called Pantanal.  This and other student lead efforts are designed to introduce the area to sustainable technologies and improve understanding of ecological risks while preserving the local culture and bringing new opportunities to the area.   Project Pantanal is an NGO that works on establishing a school and field station in a rural area  of Pantanal, which is an ecological haven for countless rare and endangered species.
Photo by Marcin Szczepanski/University of Michigan, COE Multimedia Producer