Engineers don’t normally find themselves being drooled on at work, but it comes with the territory when your “client” is a 1,900-pound draft horse with a sweet tooth. The horse, Fargo, thought Joseph Hirn, the software engineering student standing next to him, might have a peppermint in his hand; Fargo reached down to find out. Software engineering senior Joseph Hirn worked on a program that will help Frog Pond Farm rescue draft horses, like Fargo, above, from slaughter.
Presque Isle State Park in Erie is under siege. Invasive plant species are pushing out the native species and that spells trouble for the insects, animals, and microorganisms that rely on native plants. It’s an epic battle that has ensnared the park’s trees in the vines of Oriental bittersweet, filled the wetlands with Phragmitesaustralis, and clogged paths with garlic mustard.
