"The Little Miami is a treasure. It's a national success story."
Can the real Michael Miller stand up? Yes. UC Professor Miller stood up Thursday, May 24 to accept UC's Distinguished Public Service Award on behalf of his tireless efforts to clean up lakes and rivers in Greater Cincinnati and throughout the Midwest.
After 27 years exploring the long-term environmental impacts of oil drilling and development in the Arctic, eight years in the Amazon, and other studies which have taken him to Siberia, the Galapagos and more, the UC biologist is ready to focus almost exclusively on problems close to home.
"If it affects water quality and biological water quality, I'm involved," said Miller who has worked on all major rivers and streams in southwest Ohio from his favorite Little Miami to the Mill Creek which is still waiting for recovery.
"The Cuyahoga River and the Mill Creek were two of the most polluted rivers in America in 1969. The Cuyahoga has come back. It is a beautiful system, and it has been restored almost completely. In that passage of 30 years, the Mill Creek is still arguably the worst, or second or third worst polluted stream in America. We have done nothing, absolutely nothing. It's an embarrassment."
Miller says his faculty status makes it easier for him to serve as an environmental advocate. "At my age, I can do this without the heavy hand of promotion and tenure. A younger person would have a harder time doing this."
Miller's history of activism goes back to his own student days, however. "I'm a product of the '60s. I remember sitting on the University of Wisconsin campus during a rally for Keith Caldwell and others were speaking to overflow crowds calling on scientists to be responsive to their environment."
That d
oesn't mean Miller is always on the attack. Although he's served as an expert witness in several environmental lawsuits, he's also willing to work directly with industry and government agencies that need his expertise. "There's a desperate shortage in some agencies of the appropriate expertise to effect wise choices. I'm trying to lessen that problem for local groups inside and outside the system."
In fact, Miller says he prefers "colluding" to advocacy, because it's usually more effective. "There's a boatload of good PR for industries that adopt sound environmental policies. And as Ohio moves from a Rust Belt to a high-tech economy, a clean environment is what people are going to want."
Miller uses his teaching skills out in the field to make his point. In the last couple of years, he has helped take flotillas of local leaders and landowners down the rivers he's trying so harder to protect. The most popular floats, organized by OKI, are down the Mill Creek, which is finally attracting attention on a large scale.
An impromptu aerial show helped. While floating downstream near the Western Hills Viaduct, Miller didn't have to say anything to Congressman Steve Chabot. The birds did the squawking for him. "There were ducks on the water. There were Canada geese. There were Great Blue Herons. There were black-crowned night herons. Then, just as we just as we entered the green corridor between the Metropolitan Sewer District and the CSX railyard, a Peregrine falcon came down and took a duck that was just taking off, not once but twice…It was the most incredible sight, and Representative Chabot got an appreciation for what that small ribbon of green and the river was worth."
Miller will take a similar trip this June for Hamilton County commissioners to demonstrate the effects of gravel mining on the Great Miami River. "In Alaska, the concept of washing in a river is gone. The water they put back has to be crystal clear, but here we still allow the mining of gravel from the bottoms of rivers and the use of big backhoes to go into the middle of rivers to pull out gravel, making vast plumes of silt. It's just archaic."
UC biology professor George Uetz nominated Miller for the award, saying Miller offers "the best kind of example of how university professors serve their community by sharing their expertise."
But the strongest endorsements came from the front lines of environmental advocacy. Name the river, and you'll find a group fighting to protect it and grateful for Mike Miller's work on their behalf.
"He played a very key role in the study and management of the Little Miami National and State Scenic River and has worked tirelessly for the betterment of this nationally recognized natural resource," wrote Eric Partee, Executive Director of Little Miami, Inc.
"Dr. Miller has repeatedly demonstrated, through his actions, his heartfelt concern for the quality of life in the Cincinnati area as it relates to the environment in which we all live," said Nancy Ellwood, Executive Director of the Mill Creek Watershed Council. "He encourages community members to become aware of their environment and what they can do to improve it."
Additional endorsements came from a senior scientist at P&G, the head of the Mill Creek Restoration Project, and even the local media. The Cincinnati Enquirer named Miller a "Hometown Hero," and he received a volunteer award from the City of Cincinnati when Roxanne Qualls was mayor.
He says there is a lot of work left to be done. He is the new president of the Ohio Lake Management Society. He's working with the Ohio River Valley Sanitation Corporation (ORSANCO) on a number of projects affecting the health of our biggest river, while also advising the Hamilton County Metropolitan Sewer District and the Cincinnati Water Works.
If we printed the entire list, it might seem almost too long to be real. But it is, thanks to Miller's unquenchable thirst for water…pure, clean, unpolluted water for us and for our community.
Find out about other award winners.
