Dan Frank isn't your typical environmentalist. His career ambition is to have an office with a window.

Yet for two weeks this spring, the Newburgh man was in the Czech Republic studying the effects of acid rain in the Jizera Mountains.

Frank, 46, is an electrician at Alcoa Warrick Operations. He'll graduate in a year form the University of Evansville, with a degree in environmental science. And earlier this year, those two things came together.

Frank needed to fulfill an internship requirement for his degree. Alcoa, meanwhile, annually sends 15 employees from its worldwide corporation to participate in scientific expeditions with the Earthwatch Institute.

Frank had applied for an expedition last year and was denied. This year, he filled out the application again, and after a close evaluation by Alcoa and Earthwatch, he was selected. So on May 31, he found himself studying with noted hydrologist and environmentalist Dr. Josef Krecek on an important watershed in the former Communist-bloc region.

"It was a great opportunity, a great trip and a great program," said Frank. "It was very educational. This was a great deal for me, and a very generous program on Alcoa's part."

The Earthwatch Institute is the world's largest environmental nonprofit group, with a mission that promotes environmental sustainability. Earthwatch funds research in more than 40 countries, and enables regular people to volunteer around the globe.

Six years ago, Alcoa formed a partnership with Earthwatch. Now, the company selects a handful of employees each year for Earthwatch ventures.

"They don't tell you where you'll be going," said Frank. "They just tell you they will be giving away 15 Earthwatch trips, so fill out an application if you are interested."

Frank is a former Navy submarine officer, and has now worked for 19 years at Alcoa Warrick Operations as an electrician in the hot mill. Neither of those work environments have windows.

So when Frank decided to go back to school, he tried to find a career field that offered a chance to see the sun and stars. Alcoa will pay tuition for employees in certain fields, so Frank chose one of those.

"It would be nice to have a window so I can see when it gets dark or when the weather changes," said Frank. "And I always liked science. So when I went back to school, I tried to find a way to take as many science classes as I could but still justify to Alcoa that this is something they might be able to use."

Once Frank started taking classes in environmental sciences, he was hooked. He'll graduate in 2009, and now he no longer has to worry about how to squeeze in an internship. Alcoa paid for the travel expenses, and Frank took vacation time for the two-week expedition.

"It keeps me from needing to work midnights at Alcoa and then go work someplace else during the day all summer," said Frank. "I just took two weeks' vacation and went to the Czech Republic. We studied water samples, peat samples, soil profiles, measuring the canopy. And we got to see a good bit of the countryside."

During the Communist era, the Jizera Mountains — where the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland come together — were home to several high-polluting, coal-fired power plants. The sulfur emissions created acid rain, which began to kill off local vegetation, especially spruce trees.

Dr. Krecek was a pioneer in the study of the effects of acid rain in the Czech Republic. He is now an advisor to the Czech government, and has developed a plan that is restoring some of the region's lakes and streams.

During the day, Frank and the other Earthwatch volunteers would pack a lunch and head into the mountains.

"The natural condition there is for the streams to look like tea," said Frank. "It is dark brown, with lots of fish. Those are nice, healthy streams. Dr. Krecek has data on the streams going back to the early 1980s, and he's been working with Earthwatch for 18 years now."

The Earthwatch expedition had a total of eight members, including another Alcoa employee from Australia. There was also a couple from Iowa, a teacher from Great Britain, and two women from California, all of whom are retired. There was also an English teacher from New Mexico.

"Prague is just fantastic. I want to go back," said Frank. "The work was great, and we had a great group. We were all interested in the culture and the history. Dr. Krecek was great with sharing with all of us. He took us to the opera one night, and that was just a fantastic experience."

Source: tristate-media.com