Monday, October 22, 2007

Some Background

So I guess some info about me- why I’m here & what I want to say, background applying to this blog- would be beneficial. I am a WWU student of the environment, located on the Olympic Peninsula. I grew up in Washington, on the Kitsap Peninsula, & (consequently) all things involving the health of this region highly interest me. I am, of course, prejudiced but this is an amazing place to live- don’t tell anyone but especially the Olympic Peninsula. So it is mostly due to my love of this area that I am specifically a WWU student environmental science student. It is my love of science & of the outdoors that brought me to environmental science in general. I am, currently & for the next year, a REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) National Science Foundations student intern working on the Elwha River Restoration Project.

The Elwha River is currently dammed in 2 spots, these dams have been in place for close to a century. No fish ladders were constructed with these dams & the rich salmon runs were cut off from the river. After long & intense debate these dams were slated for removal. This date has been pushed back to 2012, after the completion of water treatment facilities. Sediments released by the removal of these dams will be of a HUGE volume, some of these will be removed by the water treatment facilities. I need to do more research regarding the scope of the treatment facilities as I don’t yet understand how & where & for what uses the treatment facilities will be functioning.

There is an amazing diversity of monitoring and restoration projects directly & indirectly involved with removal of the dams. I have chosen & been assigned to work with a near shore project, working mostly with the Washington Dept. Fish & Wildlife under Anne Shaffer. Currently my group is monitoring the numbers of forage fish at several sites in the area. This monitoring has been done at many sites & assesses the health of fish populations, the information collected will be compared to reassessment post dam removal. Keep watching!

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