Category: outdoors

Chattanooga, community, Diversity, donate, Environment, outdoors, Philanthropy, reflection riding, Uncategorized

Growing for Change

Written by Ella Sole

Cash Daniels, a 16-year-old conservationist, offers insight into his efforts to clean up plastic waste by focusing on fishing line. With his initiative now operating in six states, Daniels has garnered national attention and accolades for his projects and hopes to continue raising awareness about plastic waste clean-up.

Walking along the shoreline, a small plastic straw reflects the sun’s rays and catches a child’s eye, sparking a life dedicated to making a change in the man-made, polluted environment. At the age of 7, this is precisely what happened to Cash Daniels.

“Before that, I had always loved getting out on the river: fishing, kayaking, swimming, things like that. When I found that plastic straw, I knew it would harm the animals in the environment that I loved, so I knew I had to do something to help defend it,” said Daniels. “Due to that, I have been able to remove 46,000 pounds of trash from the river so far.”

Cash Daniels shows off a jar of his collected fishing line. Throughout Cash Daniels’ conservation efforts, he collected over 2,200 miles of used fishing line. Thursday, October 15, 2025 (Photo by Corbin Winters).

Plastic waste is ever-present on the banks of the Tennessee River and Chattanooga Creek, harming aesthetics and the biodiverse habitats. With these waterways so close to Daniels’ home, he felt a personal responsibility to do something to help sustain and improve them. Daniels, now a 16-year-old Chattanooga, Tennessee native, has shown his passion for cleaning up the environment around him by constructing and placing fishing line recycling bins in six states.

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Animals, Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Environment, Farm Life, farming, Food, horse, outdoors, Sustainability, Uncategorized

Fertile Land

Written by Zoie Denton

Melissa Shepherd, Head of Operations at Quail Run Farm in Chattanooga, Tennessee, speaks about how the farm uses regenerative practices and gives back to the soil. The animals contribute to the farm’s practices by rotationally grazing and naturally fertilizing the soil.

On the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee, nestled in the mountains and valleys, lies 80 acres of rolling green pastures and bustling farm life. Quail Run Farm, one of Lookout Valley’s most well-known farms, is a living example of regenerative agriculture. Bought in October of 2022 by Joe and Rachel Riley, Quail Run has turned this beautiful countryside from a quiet homestead to a community-driven ecosystem of animals and hospitality. 

Melissa Shepherd, head of operations, sits at the on-site farmer’s market. Stored inside were products like farm-fresh honey, eggs, and meat. Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Photo by Angelina Fraga.

“There weren’t any animals here at the beginning,” said Melissa Shepherd, Head of Operations. The land has transformed into a vibrant working community. It offers pasture-raised meats, locally grown produce, and honey—all cultivated with sustainable, regenerative practices.

Shepherd is originally from Yorkshire, England, and joined Quail Run through a program called Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) while traveling through the US.

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Animals, Aquarium, Chattanooga, community, Environment, outdoors, Philanthropy, Sustainability

Saving the Laurel Dace

Written by Addison Middleton

Dr. Bernie Kuhajda, an Aquatic Conservation Biologist at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI), speaks about the critically endangered Laurel Dace. The small minnow is only found in three streams along Walden Ridge. TNACI rescued the last remaining population during a historical drought in the summer of 2024.

50 miles North of Chattanooga, a thumb-sized anomaly swims between the rocks and moss of the small streams on Walden Ridge. To the unknown eye, these fish, known as the Laurel Dace, could easily be overlooked or mistaken for any other small freshwater fish that is found in East Tennessee. The rarity of the fish doesn’t come only from their size and characteristics, but the extremely specific area they are found. Since their discovery in the 1950s, the Laurel Dace have only been found in one location in the world, Walden Ridge. 

The limited environment the Laurel Dace inhabit causes an extremely small population to begin with. In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially listed the Laurel Dace as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). From first discovery, this species was found in only nine streams at Walden Ridge, but over the past 25 years, that number has shrunk drastically.  Over several decades, because of continued agriculture, dry seasons, and increased sedimentation, the Laurel Dace are now only seen having a healthy population in Bumbee Creek on Walden Ridge.

Once the fish were recognized as critically endangered, the Tennessee Aquarium and the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI) stepped in and began their preservation efforts. Over time, the TNACI continued to keep a close eye on the Laurel Dace by studying their environments and behaviors. Several rescues have been conducted where teams would go to Bumbee Creek and take several fish into their care for further monitoring and research. Through their ongoing observations in the wild, the TNACI was also able to take fast action to save the Laurel Dace when circumstances became drastic.

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Animals, Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Entertainment, Family, History, horse, outdoors

Carriage Chronicles

Written by Emily Mitchell

David Faulkner, the lead driver for Chattanooga Horse Trams, speaks about his 26 years of experience driving carriages through downtown Chattanooga.

The distinct clip-clop of hooves is a sound all too familiar to residents of downtown Chattanooga. Nearby drivers wait patiently as a spotted horse named Dewey steadily hauls an oldfangled carriage into the flow of traffic. Atop a black leather bench, David Faulkner takes one hand off the reins to pet his beloved Dalmatian, Indiana, seated proudly beside him. As the carriage rolls down Broad Street, he directs the passengers’ attention to an allegedly “haunted” parking lot coming up on their right. In the midst of rushing vehicles and busy pedestrians, the elderly coach has managed to make a career out of slowing things down.

Faulkner never applied to become a part-time carriage driver—he was recruited by the horses. While working for a nearby parking company, he took notice of Chattanooga Horse Trams, a 39-year-old carriage ride service stationed outside of the Tennessee Aquarium. 

“After about three weekends of sneaking the horse treats, [the owner] asked me if I’d go to work for him,” Faulkner said. “I started the next weekend.”

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, donate, Environment, Family, Food, Food Banks, Healing, Health, outdoors, Philanthropy, Sustainability

Table for All

Written by Alexis Carpenter

Katy Neusner steps in to help pack Sack Packs for children who may not have food at home to help sustain them through the weekend. Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Photo by Alexis Carpenter.

The warehouse lights flicker on as volunteers walk through the door and make their way to rows of stacked pallets and assembly lines. The scent of produce and cardboard boxes mingle in the humid atmosphere, and the sound of pop music fills the large warehouse. Volunteers begin to sort canned goods, bag fresh vegetables, and prepare boxes for distribution.

Yet, beneath this effort lies a growing crisis. The Chattanooga Area Food Bank, a lifeline for residents across 20 counties in Tennessee and Georgia, is dealing with significant funding cuts. A nationwide halt of $500 million in federal food aid, including the suspension of USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation funding, has resulted in the cancellation of multiple truckloads of food. These shipments are now absent from the food bank’s inventory, leaving bare shelves within the warehouse.

In the midst of the working warehouse is Katy Neusner, the Advocacy and Communications Coordinator of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. As the organization works to bridge the gap left by the funding cuts, Neusner and her colleagues face a task of sustaining their mission amid dwindling resources.​

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Animals, art, Chattanooga, Chattanooga Audubon Society, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Dance, donate, Entertainment, Environment, Healing, Health, History, Immigration, K-Pop, Love, Music, outdoors, Philanthropy, Safety, Spelunking, Sports, Sustainability, teachers, UTC, women

Rising Rock Radio Showcase
Graphic by Kylee Boone

Rising Rock is excited to showcase some of our best audio stories from this past semester in a continued partnership with Scenic Roots.

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Environment, outdoors, Safety, Spelunking, Sports, Sustainability, teachers, UTC, women

Spelunking Shenanigans

Written by Emily Petitt Dwyer

Rachel Sakar talks about her experience in caving and how she is involved in the caving community as a mentor and a teacher.

Beneath the rugged mountains of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, a region known as TAG, is a network that is somewhat unknown to most, boasting intricate passages, waterfalls, and hidden chambers that Blake Webber has devoted himself to exploring and preserving.

Webber, a civil engineering major at UTC and active member of the UTC Wind Ensemble and Men’s Ultimate Frisbee, first discovered caving in 2021 at a local festival.

“I was thrown off the deep end, completing a relatively challenging vertical trip my first time in a ‘real’ cave,” Webber said. “I was immersed in the challenge and felt like I had stepped into another world.”

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art, Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Entertainment, Environment, Family, Food, History, Hugs, Music, outdoors, Philanthropy, Sustainability, Trains, UTC, women

Rising Rock Media Podcast

By Megan Cooper

Megan Cooper hosts an episode of Rising Rock Media Podcast where listeners can get a glance at life in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She speaks with several very different people from interviews she hosted throughout the semester.

Meet The Storyteller

Megan Cooper is a senior communication student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, UTC, focusing on being an audio technician and editor. Megan has experience using Adobe programs to create audio content for broadcasting. Megan is a show host, promotions director, and station manager at UTC’s student-run radio station, the Perch. She is also currently working as a promotions tech at Summit Media Group in Knoxville, TN. This is Megan’s second semester in Rising Rock as an audio technician where she uses nothing but tone of voice to share people’s stories, and she built the Rising Rock radio showcase for 88.1 WUTC. When she isn’t working she is reading fantasy books and hunting down the next CD on her list. Cooper’s passion lies in music, books, radio, and using stories to bring people together. If you have a story you want to tell or want to contact Megan you can reach her at megancooper820@gmail.com. 

Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Environment, Health, History, outdoors, Philanthropy, Sustainability

Breathe Easy Now

Written by Guy DeWeese

Morgan Holl talks about Overlooked Materials, his glass recycling startup. He wants to make a difference in Chattanooga through recycling in the community.

The year is 1969, it has been 20 years since the All-Dixie Air Show, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was on the rise, Cedar Street Bridge just got finished. Businesses are being built, the city of Chattanooga is trending upward. It’s a crisp October day and Walter Cronkite, an anchorman for the CBS evening news known as the most trusted man in America, announces on national television that “Chattanooga, Tennessee is the dirtiest city in America.”

“It was so bad that people couldn’t stand it anymore, it was just gross,” says Karen  Hundt, an urban designer who has been involved in the city’s turnaround since those dark days in the 1960s when headlights were sometimes required at noon. 

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Animals, Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Environment, outdoors, Sports

Climbing Companions

Written by Addison Middleton

Emily Pinson, an avid climber, takes her cat Suki bouldering with her. She adopted her cat from the Humane Society with the intent of training her to climb.

While breathing in the crisp air of the outdoors, Emily Pinson makes sure to grab her climbing shoes, hand chalk and crash pads before she and Suki, her loyal climbing partner, head out into the woods together. Pinson swings her bags over her shoulder, and tosses her companion up in the air to sit perched atop of the supplies because although Suki is an avid adventurer, she is also a cat. 

Pinson’s love for the outdoors and the activity of bouldering began years ago. This subset of rock climbing has allowed her to build a community through the shared love of the sport. She began her climbing career in highschool at indoor climbing gyms, and decided to venture further by starting to climb at outside destinations a little over a year ago. 

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