FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 22, 2009

LAS VEGAS---26 students from Diné College in Shiprock, New Mexico attend a workshop provided by DRI researchers: Drs. Karletta  Chief, Kumud  Acharya,  Mark Stone and Asa Stone.  The majority of the students were environmental science majors with some non-science majors and several environmental professionals from the Navajo EPA, Navajo Engineering and Construction, and U.S. Wildlife and Biology Dept.

“I felt that the students understood the concepts and were very interested in the field and lab activities.  Some were very encouraged and enthusiastic about studying civil engineering or hydrology as a major,” Chief said.

The watershed hydrology short course included an overview of watershed restoration with in introduction to hydrology. The first two days of the workshop were led by Stone and Acharya who have previously presented their workshop in Japan and China.  Also, Dr. Asa Stone presented on society and environmental sustainability and showed the film “Are we Running Dry?” The presentations highlighted the importance of studying hydrology, and the film showed several Native American perspectives.  The workshop was concluded with lectures in vadose zone hydrology led by Chief and Ph.D. student Jeremy Koonce.  Hands-on activities were emphasized with in-class assignments, field activities including soil hand texturing, and lab experiments.

The course featured two field trips that were guided by Arnold Clifford, geologist and Navajo botanist and herbalist.  The students visited a natural wetland, rehabilitated wetland, and the San Juan River to demonstrate water quality measurements, and stream gauging.  The course also included a demonstration and overview of stream gauging sites by Navajo Nation Water Resources Hydrologist Jerome Bekis.

Course evaluations from the students were quite high and the president of Diné College expressed an interest in perusing a memorandum of understanding with DRI.