PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA AND LOCAL WATERSHED ASSOCIATIONS

Environmental issues that concern local communities are widely addressed in Geoscience curricula at California University of Pennsylvania. Local stream assessments, water quality monitoring, assessment of drinking water supply, non-point source pollution, stream bank erosion, mass wasting, environmental impact of different land use practices are among topics of laboratory reports, individual and group course long projects, and master thesis of students in the Department of Earth Sciences at California University of Pennsylvania. These projects have two folded educational benefits. Students gain unique educational opportunities being involved into service-learning projects, residents of the community are being educated as students present results of their studies publishing and distributing Newsletter, via website, and seminars at the township meetings. Local environmental groups benefit as student contribute their time to organizational activities, collect and analyze data, make recommendations, propose future study designs, and staying involved with organizations as officers after the course of study or though internship programs. This paper will present several examples of educational opportunities within local community in Southwestern Pennsylvania.