As part of the ICIGO student organization within the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, students conducted a land value mapping study.

ICIGO students utilized GIS to visualize parcel value by acre in West Branch, Iowa.

Visit the interactive 3-dimensional map looking at land parcels in West Branch, Iowa here.

University of Iowa MFA alumni Philip Rabalais partnered with the City of West Branch and IISC to create a short film sharing the history of West Branch. Olivia (Ollie) Naber, an English and Creative Writing Major at Iowa, served as the film's narrator. Ollie's hometown is West Branch.

For their capstone project in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a team of students will work to improve the functioning of downtown area streets by creating updated designs for downtown roads and sidewalks.

The designs will provide better access to building entrances and meet ADA standards. The team will address utility system relocation and design and streetscape development for better walkability. The streetscape will also address street elevation issues and include the connection to the Hoover Historic Site and Presidential Library.

For their capstone project in Civil & Environmental Engineering, a team of students will improve the functionality of West Branch streets by designing a safer, more efficient truck route.

The team of students will analyze the current route, evaluate alternative alignments, address constraints, and develop a roadway design and plans. 

For their capstone project in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a team of students will develop a comprehensive plan to evaluate, prioritize, and design utility replacements in a subdivision in West Branch. 

The student team will assess existing utilities, evaluate replacement options, prioritize improvements, design replacement systems, and provide a phased implementation roadmap for the City of West Branch.

As part of their Senior Design Capstone Course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students designed a Public Safety Building to meet the needs of the growing city of Granger.

A team of students in the College of Law's Community Empowerment Law Project will support Scattergood Friends School & Farm in a process to evaluate models of self-governance.

As part of their Senior Design Capstone Course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students will propose designs for the current site of the Bethel AME Church in Clinton. 

As part of their Senior Design Capstone Course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students provided design and analysis support for an integrated parks and environmental engineering project along Mud Creek in Bondurant.

For their capstone project, Civil and Environmental Engineering students examined potential reuse of two six-pack silos in Bondurant.

For their capstone project in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a team of students evaluated upgrades to enable future improvements for Cleaveland Park in Bondurant.

Stormwater constraints currently restrict improvements to Cleaveland Park. Students evaluateed potential stormwater upgrades within the park parcel and the surrounding area that could enable future park improvements. Students prepared detailed design plans to support development of Cleaveland Park as a neighborhood public amenity.

For their capstone project in Civil & Environmental Engineering, a team of students designed multi-use trail connections and trail segments as well as developed engineering designs and cost estimates for the City of Bondurant.

As a growing community, Bondurant has the opportunity to increase recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. This project included the following components: 

Undergraduate students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication partnered with Main Street West Branch to support downtown businesses with strategic communications strategy and campaigns.

For their capstone project in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a team of students will create designs for an underutilized greenspace in Manchester adjacent to the Maquoketa River.

For their capstone project in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a team of students will create designs for an underutilized greenspace in Manchester adjacent to the Maquoketa River.

University of Iowa graduate students in Professor Eric Gidal's ENGL 6765: Bioregionalism in History, Theory, and Practice course explored traditions of bioregionalism in geography, civics, literature, culture, and the arts to create seven proposals for future community engagement in West Branch and the Lower Cedar Watershed. 

As part of their Senior Design capstone course, Civil and Environmental Engineering students provided analysis, recommendations, designs, and costs for extending West Branch's sanitary sewer trunk line to meet the needs of the growing community.

As part of the ICIGO student organization within the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, students conducted an on-site tree study and created a GIS-based digital inventory tool for city-owned trees in West Branch, Iowa.

Students enrolled in Public Policy and Persuasion in the School of Planning and Public Affairs worked with the West Branch Community School District to develop policy briefs for issues currently facing the school district.