Learn more about the Saturday Academy.
Denise Lopez:
Hi! I am completing an apprentice in science and engineering at the Johnson Creek Watershed Council this summer. I will be updating this blog weekly with events that have taken place, and material I have learned.
Week 1:
7/7 – Recently Alison and I have started a new project, which is photo monitoring. Graphs and data can’t reveal everything about the stream and that it is where photo monitoring comes in. You can learn more about photo monitoring here. We have also been updating the Conservation Registry which contains the numerous restoration projects JCWC has taken on. In addition to updating past photo points we have been establishing new ones for a recent Metro project. That is all basic confluence monitoring.
7/9 – Yesterday we were able to participate in a garbage clean up along Badger creek. We worked with a fabulous group of high school students who are participating in the Tivnu summer service program for Jewish youth. Together we removed nearly a ton of trash from the creek as well as from along Rugg road. If you want to get involved and get your hands dirty there will be a Johnson Creek Clean-up on August 23. You can read more about it and register to volunteer here.
Week 2:
7/16 – It’s only Wednesday and so far this week has been busy! On Monday, Alison and I went to the Portland State University Library to do some research. We perused the library for any information related to Johnson Creek, especially information on hydrology. Yesterday was the ASE Mid-Summer Conference at Oregon State University. The theme was resilience. I learned a lot from the workshops, and from the speeches people gave. Today after the IJC Meeting we took a tour of Westmoreland Park. The construction there ended up costing $2.2 million! In the afternoon we received training in hydrology and using a flowtracker. The presentation Adam Stonewall gave on how to measure everything can be found here. Overall it was a really educational day!