Issue 2
November 2008
Fall Environmental
Studies Newsletter
T r i n i t y
W e s t e r n
Inside this
issue:
Au Sable Studies
2
Salt Spring Summer
2
ARTWU Creation
Care
3
U n i v e r s i t y ESA Summer Update
Casey Howlett posing with a plant she
has just planted as part of a dry forest
restoration project.
Maui Travel Study 2008
B i o d i v e r s i t y
i n
Nearly 20 years after the
original TWU field biology
course on Maui, the ninth
TWU SHRIMP* group successfully completed their
work in the Hawaiian Islands
this past May. Counting the
original trips from Western
Washington University that
began in 1977 under Dr. C.J.
Flora, there have been a
total of more than 500
SHRIMP students who have
now hiked the Haleakala
Crater and basked in the
“genteel waters” of Hekili
Reef.
course, and also participated
in REEF Check surveys of
marine fishes during the
coral reef course. As well,
this year saw the longawaited launch of Cory
Pittman’s website on nudibranchs of the Hawaiian
Islands, many of these beautiful creatures having first
been discovered by SHRIMP
students over the years
(http://seaslugsofhawaii.com/
index.html).
Over this time TWU scientific contributions to real
world management issues of
the flora and fauna of the
Hawaiian Islands has increased dramatically. For
example, this year’s group
for the first time participated in restoration plantings in a degraded forest
area during the botany
S a l t
S p r i n g
Planning is underway for the
4 th Salt Spring Island plant
and marine ecology courses
TWU’s Salt Spring course was chosen for cover photo in
the Alternatives Journal which reviews Environmental
Studies programs across Canada.
M a u i
The ripple effect of so many
students taking these trips
was noticed by this year’s
group, as one of our tour
guides was a TWU Hawaii
alum now working as an
educator for Maui Land &
Pineapple. Other TWU
alumni have gone on to
work for the Pacific Whale
Foundation, Creation Care
Semester Program in the
South Pacific, and even for a
I s l a n d
In keeping with the crustacean theme of the Hawaii
trip, participants in the Salt
Spring Island trip are called
CRABBERS. There is still
room on the May trip,
Alumni
4
Bog Research and
Education
6
tropical forest canopy zipline
tour operator near Honolua
Bay!
Certainly the experience of
living in community at rustic
Camp Pecusa (now known
as Camp Olowalu) has been
good training for future
work in developing countries. The goal of incorporating Polynesian culture and
history into our understanding of the environmental
issues faced by tropical regions is achieved to a
greater degree each time
the trip is offered. It is our
hope that tropical biology
courses will continue to be
feasible for many years to
come!
--- Prof. Karen Steensma
c o u r s e s
in May 2009.
3
2 0 0 9
and it is open to non-science
majors as well, so tell your
friends and relations to get
their names on the list!
Contact Cathy White for
more info at
[email protected]
Page
2
Fall
C a s c a d e
~ A u
M o u n t a i n s
S a b l e
Au Sable Pacific Rim
Summer Session- David
Clements
What a joy it was to teach
at Au Sable Pacific Rim on
Whidbey Island, Washington this past summer! I
taught “Field Botany” to a
group of 9 enthusiastic
students from various corners of the US.
The group picture is of my
w i t h
G r i z z l y
E n v i r o n m e n t a l
class on a beautiful trail in
the Cascade Mountains
leading to Heather Lake,
which I visited accompanied by TWU ENVS alum,
Seth Luginbill, who works
full time at Au Sable. He’s
the one in the picture
showing off his trademark
“grizzly Adams” beard.
Environmental
Studies
A d a m s
S t u d i e s
about Au Sable visit
www.ausable.org.
Several TWU students
attend courses at Au Sauble. To find out more
Salt Spring Summer Work
After a summer working on
Salt Spring Island one could
say we sailed the sea,
staked our land, built a shelter and accomplished great
feats.
This summer three brave
students (Catherine
Janes, Travis Grant,
Rezi Amiri) took on the
adventure of working and
caring for TWUs Crows
Nest property. I would say
these students grew in
many ways. Some days
were all sun and butterflies
but others were rain and
dirt.
One of the main goals was
to build a eco cook shelter
and this meant doing some
things the old fashioned
way. With the help of an
Ecoforestry consultant we
selected logs from the
property that would let
more sun rays into camp
for solar power and free up
a shaded and struggling
Garry oak tree.
We collected rocks from
walls with an ancient natural
building practice
called cob. This
summer Catherine Janes and
Melissa Oakes
took a cob building workshop where we built walls
with a mixture of sand, clay
and straw.
We also continued long
term conservation studies
such as those on the enclosed Garry oak seedlings
and the endangered Propertius duskywing butterfly.
Cob workshop
It was a wonderful
community experience.
-M.Oakes
the property and used as
many local natural building
materials as possible.
We plan to construct semiCowichan Garry Oak Preserve management tour
Issue 2
C a r i n g
A
Page
f o r
R o c h a
C r e a t i o n
T W U
S t u d e n t
Highlights and Successes of the
ARTWU student environmental
club:
•
ARTWU t-shirts have arrived
and can be purchased as a donation to the club
C h a p t e r
(www.renewingcreation.org)
•
Langley Environmental Hero
Award given by MP, Mark
Warawa
•
Land stewardship volunteering
A Rocha France European
Roller study internship completed by Trish Buhler
•
Ongoing Glover Road clean
ups and composting
•
•
Community dinners and activities such as a corn maze outing
and 57 acres harvest and canning event
The club is currently working on:
•
Earth Week 2009
•
•
ARTWU website development
•
Attend the Renew Summit at
Philadelphia Eastern University
to build a Christian environmental club network
S u m m e r
TWU community shared agriculture proposal
•
Missions team coordination
(www.christiansforthemountain
s.org)
i n
t h e
Langley Environmental Hero Award given
by MP, Mark Warawa;
For more info contact Trish, ARTWU
president at [email protected]
or Melissa, TWU A Rocha staff at
[email protected]
E c o s y s t e m
The summer of 2008 proved to
be an exciting and rewarding time
for those working and teaching in
Trinity’s Ecosystem Study Area
(ESA). With funding obtained
from our recently awarded five
year NSERC promo science
grant, over 600 kids, parents and
teachers participated in our
‘Salmon in the Valley’ (SIV) grade
four program for five weeks in
May and June. With the help of
TWU biology, environmental and
education students, SIV was a
huge success with many families
being introduced to the world of
salmon and TWU for the very
first time.
five programs will be offered on a
large scale.
In addition, we piloted our brand
new grade five, human impacts on
salmon curriculum, which went
over very well and was received
with much enthusiasm. We look
forward to an even bigger SIV
program in the summer of 2009,
where both the grade four and
Data collected will be used
ESA staff kept very busy this summer as we studied Trinity’s own
McMillan Lake to determine its
potential of becoming off channel
salmon habitat. With the help of
ESA student employee and thesis
students, we have been collecting
detailed water quality data, determining fish species and population
sizes, mapping of the Lake’s depth
and contours as well as the netting and removal of invasive fish
species. This is an ongoing project that is expected to continue
for the next three to four years.
S t u d y
A r e a
Chris Hall demonstrating the mad scientist at Salmon in the Valley
in obtaining grants to help
TWU transform this
valuable piece of the
Salmon River Watershed
back into the healthy and
productive state it once was.
Dustynn Diack conducting water
analysis in Ecosystem Study Area
3
Page
4
Fall
Environmental
Studies
Alumni Updates
Below are a few representative updates on alumni. As with our ENVS program, we are using the broad definition of
environmental studies here – anyone who was interested in environmental studies while at Trinity, whether or not
they actually majored in the program! We know there are many other stories out there, so please contact us prior
to next issue what you have been up to, or if you have information on other alumni.
Melissa Doroshuck/ Warwick (2000/2001) After graduating I spent 2 and half years in
Japan teaching English. I returned to Vernon, BC Canada in late 2003 and married my wonderful husband in 2004. In 2005 (till mid 2007) I worked for the Sterile Insect Release Program. It's a program that uses nature friendly techniques to control codling moth, which is
BC fruits industry's most damaging and costly pest. Prior to SIR orchardists needed to apply
harmful organophosphate pesticides up to 5 times a season to control codling moth, which
raised environmental and health concerns with workers and the public. A successful SIR Program will substantially reduce the amount of toxic pesticides currently used to control codling moth and that means a more competitive fruit industry and healthier local environment
for everyone. I left this job in mid 2007 to have a beautiful baby girl named Kiana who is 15
months now!
Timothy DeMasters (2004) is working for OtterTail Environmental, a natural resource consulting firm based in Denver, CO. One of his main projects over the past
2 years has been mapping vegetation/wetlands for a prospective copper and gold mine
in Alaska. He has consequently spent the last 2 summers in the field, living, on and
off, in a small native village with the other 150 workers. The entire study area is helicopter access only at this point. He also has been involved with a baseline river study
involving salmon and macroinvertebrates over the past 4 years in western Alaska. He
has also done Threatened and Endangered Species surveys for oil and gas companies
in Colorado, delineating wetlands and implementing mosquito control programs for
West Nile virus. Lately Tim has dabbled in videography and is currently the assistant
director for Festivus Film Festival in Denver. He is taking off this spring to assist a
friend with the construction of a surf hostel in El Salvador. After that he'll try to make a living in the visual arts, but
will probably end up back in science, or school.
Seth Luginbill (2005) My position is based in restoration work being done here at
the Pacific Rim campus in a variety of ecosystems. My work is done primarily in the
restoration of a 5 acre native prairie remnant located on the Au Sable campus. This
includes: collection of native species seeds for propagation, re-introduction of native
prairie species to the smith prairie remnant, and examining methods for reducing/
eliminating invasive species from encroachment on the prairie.
I also assist with research work being conducted by Au Sable Partners that are utilizing the Pacific Rim campus as part of on going restoration studies. Most of this work
is similar to our individual restoration efforts in that we are trying to determine the
various interactions that are needed to preserve, conserve, and re-establish native glacial outwash prairies in the
Northwestern Washington region.
A further element of my work is the reintroduction and propagation of rare or threatened species. Currently, we
are working towards the re-establishment of the Golden Paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta) a threatened species here in
the state of Washington.
The establishment of a Garry oak Savannah is also a large project that is ongoing here at the institute. Currently, I
am conducting monitoring work to determine the effects of Townsend's vole (Microtus townsendii) of Garry oak
seedling survival.
I am also in charge of the operation of are greenhouse which we utilize for propagation of native species for both
our own restoration work and aiding other restoration based groups in there own efforts. Are latest endeavor is
Page
5
Fall
Environmental
Studies
Alumni Updates
propagating 20,000 plugs of Roemer's Fescue (a rare prairie grass) for the national parks service.
César Iván Reyes Abascal (2005) After graduation a friend of mine and I
went on a month-long road trip around the spectacularly-diverse Mexican
coast. After this I packed my bags and headed to the old continent, specifically
Madrid, in Spain. At first I expected to stay there for 2 years but in the end I
ended up staying over 3 years.
In late 2006, I graduated from a full time Master's degree on Environmental
Management and Policies from La Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Very few
weeks of travelling in Spain (including the highly recommended scenery of
Picos de Europa) and Europe had gone by when I booked a job in Madrid with
ALATEC, a construction consulting firm as an environmental consultant. There
I worked in several environmental assessment projects, beach renourishments, environmental characterizations, GIS mapping, etc.
In late 2006, about a month and two weeks after I had finished my first master's degree I started attending classes on
the weekends for the part time MBA in EOI:Escuela de Negocios in Madrid. I graduated with a Master's degree in
Business Administration with a focus on Corporate Direction in mid 2008, after which I resigned my job and moved
back home to Mexico.
Now I'm back home directing the company called Ingeniería Piscícola which my father founded 27 years ago. The
whole business of the company circles around fish farming in lakes, ponds, and rivers. We are specialized in cultivating tilapia and catfish using cages for controlling production.
Kim Roberts (2005) For the last two years I've worked with the non-profit
Upland Holistic Development Project. My first six months were spent in Thailand, followed by a year in the states where I continued my work with them
part time as a GIS consultant. Two months ago I returned to Thailand and I
will be here until July of 2009. UHDP works will marginalized agrarian hilltribe
villages in rural northern Thailand, assisting with development work related to
anything from agroforestry to citizenship. My task is to build the capacity of
UHDP staff in regards to land use management plans through GIS mapping,
photo image analysis, mixed in with a little research.
Ryan Kirkham (1998) Ryan was one of Dr. Clements’ first students to bear
witness to the inaugural “Song-At-The-End-Of-The-Semester” bonanza. He
also attended the 1997 SHRIMPers trip to Maui which proved to be quite foundational in the direction his life has
taken. Immediately following graduation, Ryan worked as a marine science instructor in the Florida Keys, but he
eventually found his way back to British Columbia and accepted a high school science teacher position in Maple
Ridge. During the summers, he worked as a naturalist at the Vancouver Aquarium. In 2005, Ryan and his family
made the move to Maui where he currently teaches high school science at Maui Preparatory Academy
(www.mauiprep.org). The school focuses on experiential learning, so Ryan can
often be found with his classes in the water studying coral reef ecology, up in
the mountains participating in native reforestation projects, or taking in presentations of world-class humpback whale researchers that frequent Maui every
winter. He also serves as the school’s Director of Sustainability. This has
proved to be a challenging position as it not only entails initiating education
programs dealing with sustainability, but also implementing sustainable principles into the school’s operations and development. Many of the guiding
sustainability principles endorsed by Maui Prep can be found in the
book Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough.
T r i n i t y
W e s t e r n
U n i v e r s i t y
7600 Glover Road, Langley, BC, V2Y 1Y1
Phone: 604-888-7511
Alumni Updates
Jim Armstrong (2001) My current position is as the Senior Environmental Biologist within the Policy and Planning Department at Metro Vancouver. Changing from the role as an Environmental Scientist, I have chosen to focus my environmental
career in the area of environmental assessments. Included in my tasks are the Burrard Inlet Ambient Monitoring Program,
Combined Sewer Overflow automated sampling program and the development of a new partnership approach for the Boundary Bay Ambient monitoring program. The work is diverse with the development, management
and implementation of these various programs, assessment of the environmental effects of Contaminants of Concern on the various water bodies that flow through or onto the shores of the
Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
Beginning in 2009, I will be taking on the role as mentor to several co-op students for our Environmental Management group. This is a program that I have presented to our division manager
who successfully presented it for funding earlier this year. Although only one TWU student applied for the January, 2009 position, it is my hope that many more will apply for future posting as
this is a unique opportunity to apply the Christian teachings of Trinity in environmental management.
This newsletter was designed and produced by Melissa Oakes with contributions
from TWU faculty and students. Graduates of Trinity, please keep in touch and send updates on current
work status. Phone 604-671-6468 or email [email protected]. Thank you!
We’re on the web! www.twu.ca/academics/interdisciplinary/environment/
Few bog habitats remain
in the Fraser Lowland
especially those
L a n g l e y
TWU faculty were
awarded grant fundstatus. Indeed, the
ing raised by the Paopportunity for research,
cific Parkland Foundarestoration, stewardship tion to conduct reand education are
search in the Langley
excellent.
Bog, a bog that has
been affected by conversion of parts to cranberry farms
and by peat mining. Three students
and three faculty worked in the bog
and were involved in summer projects. Kaysha Vandergugten and
Diana Budi Ayu for five weeks and
Jesse Dias for one week.
protected by park
This summer involved mapping
ridge and channel topography, main
B o g
R e s e a r c h
water features, forest areas, and
general peat plant features. In addition a tree core spatial network was
established with growth-height relationships and age estimate analysis
conducted; a 40 piezometer well
network was established with characteristic analysis conducted; and a
preliminary peat restoration study
was set up continuing a study from
2006 by Jason Quamme.
a n d
E d u c a t i o n
We are assessing opportunities
such as interpretive walks, workshops, land stewardship partnerships and curriculum based field
trips.
An education assessment is also
underway for educational opportunities in the bog wetland ecosystem.
It is a unique place with plants
such as Sundew plants and
wildlife like Sandhill cranes.
Kaysha and Jesse water sampling in the
bog.