MONITORING THE FLUVIAL SYSTEM OF BOEING CREEK (SHORELINE, WA): DEVELOPING SUCCESSFUL SERVICE LEARNING IN THE GEOSCIENCES

Shoreline Community College located in the Boeing Creek watershed, conducts a service-learning, field-based project in lower-division geology and geography laboratory science courses that focuses on the study of mass wasting and stream channel dynamics along Boeing Creek. The 1600-acre Boeing Creek watershed is about 70-percent developed and drains to Puget Sound. The creek experiences excessive erosion from the dynamic peak flows of a developed watershed and a very erodible surficial glacial geology. The proximity of the stream to the campus, the existing stream and slope instability, and the direct connection between land use and its impacts on natural systems, provides students with an ideal outdoor laboratory. Currently, this project is in its fifth year and many valuable lessons on the specifics of data collection and group management have been learned.

Service learning in a geoscience field data collection context allows students the opportunity to apply classroom learning to real-world situations, while providing valuable services to the local community. The data collected at Boeing Creek will provide the City of Shoreline’s Surface Water and Environmental Services Program and Shoreline Community College with systematic time series observations for long-term monitoring, planning and maintenance of recreational, residential and commercial areas within the Boeing Creek watershed.

This project is designed around small student groups working towards a project outcome that follows specific guidelines jointly developed by course instructors and City of Shoreline staff. This collaboration is key in meeting the challenge of balancing good pedagogy and useful data collection. Students working on this project develop “hands-on and deep learning” on stream and slope dynamics as well as geoscience field study skills. Initial feedback from student evaluations suggests that this project is an effective and engaging approach to learning geomorphic processes, improving the understanding of urban watershed management issues, and exposing students to the ethics of urban conservation.