The removal of two dams on the upper Elwha River in Washington State, officially described as a salmon restoration project, will begin in 2007, and will change the ecosystem dramatically for re-entry of salmon into the upper river. It is to be the largest dam deconstruction and habitat restoration project conducted and is ranked as the second most urgent restoration priority by the National Park System. The removal of the Elwha dams presents an unprecedented REU Site setting at Peninsula College (PC) for 16 students per year to address fundamental ecological questions never before studied in this context and scale, associated with nutrients and trophic webs, succession, aquatic and terrestrial habitats, and fluvial processes operating within a wild salmon watershed. A consortium, consisting of scientists from PC, Western Washington University/Huxley College of the Environment (Huxley College), Olympic National Park (ONP), USGS Biological Resources Division (USGS BRD), NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal (Elwha Tribal) has been created to study the watershed before, during and after dam removal. Sixteen students per year will work with consortium mentors to investigate restoration management regimens while exploring fundamental questions in ecology, wildlife sciences, and restoration ecology. Students will be involved in a year-long course (Fall through Summer Quarter) that includes over 100 hours of course activities and 400 hours of research on the Elwha system, working as full participating members of the consortium. The research projects will focus on analysis of a variety of parameters in the Elwha ecosystems throughout the year, identifying mechanisms and indicators of changes in population distribution and abundance; predicting changes in these populations due to dam removal; and providing information on the effects of dam removal and restoration projects for use worldwide. Interested students should contact Dr. Brian Hauge, REU Student Advisor (brianh@pcadmin.ctc.edu) or Dr. Bill Eaton, REU Project leader (bille@pcadmin.ctc.edu) for more information. Information is also available at http://pc.ctc.edu/academics/artssciences/life_sciences/research.asp.
