“OSU Extension’s Student Watershed Assessment Teams gather science for today while building scientists for tomorrow.”

by Rachel Werling, Extension Natural Resources Instructor

There is a lot of work being done in the Rogue River watershed these days to improve salmon habitat and water quality. Documenting the effectiveness of those efforts takes a lot of time and technical expertise. The Student Watershed Assessment Team (SWAT) program of OSU Jackson County Extension is training students to be a part of this process.   The goal of the SWAT program is to provide a quality scientific data for natural resource management efforts. At the same time, it gives young people exposure to careers and skills for their future. Jackson County has two student teams patrolling local riparian areas.

Central High School Students set permanent photo points at a Lomakatsi Restoration project on Lone Pine Creek near Table Rock Road.

Rachel and the Logos Charter School Student SWAT collect vegetation data at Denman Wildlife Area on Little Butte Creek.

 
The program is serious hands-on science, not worksheets or research papers. The student scientists are tracking the progress of stream restoration.   The teams go out for a full field day once a month. They learn technical field protocols, specific methods for the collection of data. The focus this year has been on photo point monitoring that visually captures changes at a site, and vegetation monitoring to track how well native plants are doing and whether invasive weeds are making inroads. Students learn the gear and skills of field scientists, including plant ID, setting transects, using compasses, GPS units, and iPads for data collection.

Local agencies and organizations are excited about the prospect of more hands on deck for data collection provided by the SWAT program and are helping out. The Freshwater Trust has provided valuable technical assistance, and helped the teams incorporate iPads and online apps for data collection. The Jackson County Soil & Water District helped fund the StreamWise SWAT program and may incorporate teams into their land owner project monitoring. The Butte Falls SWAT program is partnering with Southern Oregon University students, Bureau of Land Management and OSU Extension forestry program on a riparian shade study. The LOGOS charter school team is helping to document restoration progress along Crooked Creek, Bear Creek, and Little Butte Creek.

Logos High School team members set permanent photo points and document pre-restoration conditions at Crooked Creek in Bear Creek Park.

In some cases the SWAT students are helping to fill a gap where lack of time and resources have limited the information collected. This is the case at the ODFW Denman Wildlife Area restoration along Little Butte Creek. In other cases, the teams are helping lighten the load for organizations by picking up part of their monitoring process. The data gathered by the teams are delivered to the restoration host organizations such as Lomakatsi Restoration Project and the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. Around our watersheds, these student teams are gathering science for today, while building scientist for tomorrow.