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Massachusetts Earth Team Group Creates Salt Marsh Restoration Design Plan
By Carol Rickless
Massachusetts Earth Team Volunteer Coordinator
Click photos to enlarge. |
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Smith College Picker Program
Design Clinic students and NRCS staff with project poster. (l-r)
Nancy Sheard, NRCS, Civil Engineering Tech; Leonora Baddoo, student;
Meghan Irving, student; Ida Ngambeki, student; June Yeung, student;
and Dennis Verdi, NRCS, Planning Engineer. |
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Leonora, Ida and June in
waders preparing to survey the Weir Creek Salt Marsh. |
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Meghan and Leonora confer
with Jeremy Bell, Wetlands Specialist on invasive plant species. |
A multi-cultural group of Smith College engineering students served as group
volunteers for the Massachusetts Earth Team this past school year. From
September 2006 to May 2007, the volunteers worked with NRCS staff and partners
to design a culvert for the restoration of the Weir Creek Salt Marsh in Dennis,
Massachusetts.
The 1,658 volunteer hours that the team logged over the school year were not
only an academic experience but became valuable real life work experience. “I
learnt a lot from doing this project, it covered a lot of ground and allowed us
to do a variety of tasks,” said Ida Ngambeki of Uganda. “It also provided me
with a chance to see the workings of NRCS and their commitment to the
environment.”
Ida and her fellow students, Leonora Baddoo of Ghana, June Yeung, originally of
Hong Kong, and Meghan Irving of New Hampshire worked in collaboration with NRCS,
Massachusetts Wetland Restoration Program and the Town of Dennis to prepare a
final design for the salt marsh restoration culvert improvement. The final
design and specifications will be used by NRCS and the town for obtaining
funding, permits, and as a construction package for implementation.
“The students were professional and represented the Smith College Picker
Engineering Program well,” said Dennis Verdi, NRCS Planning Engineer. “They
worked diligently on the project throughout the year and did an excellent job on
the final presentation at the May engineering design clinic. We enjoyed working
with the students on the project. It was a learning experience for everyone
involved.”
The volunteers researched salt marshes, modeled tidal flow into the marsh,
planned and developed alternatives for the site, then prepared a design,
construction specifications, and a cost estimate for the project. They provided
NRCS with weekly progress reports, which also were an opportunity for the
students to request assistance and ask questions about the project.
Over the course of the project NRCS engineering and resources staffs and the
partner agencies provided reference material and technical guidance, assisted
students as they surveyed the project site, provided guidance on modeling and
evaluating alternatives, collaborated weekly through meetings, email, and
teleconferences and answered questions regarding planning and design for the
salt marsh restoration culvert improvements.
In 2000, Smith College began the nation’s first engineering program at a women’s
college. The goal of the Smith College Picker Engineering Program Design Clinic
is to provide students with an opportunity to tackle real-world engineering
projects with actual industry and government clients. Students are required to
solve engineering design problems and produce a final product. Students work in
teams of three or four under the guidance of a faculty adviser and one or more
technical liaisons from the sponsoring organization. The completed projects
benefit both the students and the sponsoring organizations.
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