HR: 1340h
AN: ED23B-1275 [Abstracts]
TI: Watershed Restoration at Richmond, CA Field Site: Science Education Partnership
AU: * Berry, W B
EM: bberry@berkeley.edu
AF: Department of Earth & Planetary Science, 307 McCone
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94708-4767,
AB:
The University of California Berkeley owns a field research station in Richmond, California, a few miles from the
central campus. Wetlands, and tidal marsh environments cover a significant part of the site. Metals, primarily
mercury, but also arsenic and copper as well as PCBs, have been removed from the wetlands under order from
the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The University contracted with a professional organization, The
Watershed Project, to renew/restore the wetlands from which the metals and PCBs had been removed. This
renewal/restoration project is being used in research and teaching in courses and independent study projects.
The Watershed Project scientists, specialists in wetlands restoration, come to the Berkeley Campus to lecture in
a Bay Area environmental issues class on wetlands values and on processes in restoration of wetlands. Some
environmental science students take a field study course in which they go to the wetlands restoration site to learn
"hands-on" restoration techniques from The Watershed Project
specialists and to gain practical experience. Students write an analysis of their learning experience while under
the supervision of The Watershed Project specialists to satisfy course requirements. Berkeley faculty and The
Watershed Project scientists collaborate in planning the student learning and research experience in these
wetlands. The close collaboration among faculty, The Watershed Project scientists and students has been a
rewarding experience for all. This program has been in place for four years.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 0825 Teaching methods
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting