Students in the Watershed Protection and Restoration class at Feather River College learn how to do stream surveys, take scientific measurements, and collect and analyze data. Students discuss a wide variety of restoration techniques and the challenges and opportunities that arise with each option. Students build beaver dam analogs, measure stream attributes on the section of Spanish Creek that passes through the FRC campus, and attend a Maidu Field Camp to engage in tasks aimed at restoring the Mountain Maidu ancestral lands. For their final projects, students outline a conceptual restoration design for Spanish Creek and present their ideas at the Student Research Symposium.
Watershed Restoration students do a pebble count and measure stream attributes in Spanish Creek, on the FRC campus.
Comparison of restoration techniques in Red Clover Valley
Building beaver dam analogs on Lone Rock Creek
International Instruction
In 2017, Dana instructed a 10 day course in the Peruvian Andes titled Application of Ecological and Hydrological Methods and Analysis of Andean Peatlands. She gave presentations and led field exercises in the Spanish Language. Attendees included consultants, professors, graduate students, undergraduates, and professionals from South America.
Dana returned to South America as an instructor during a research foray in high elevation ecosystems across Colombia. She guided field-based labs and activities in the English and Spanish languages. This work resulted in international research collaboration between universities in the United States and South America.
Speaking with the head of Huascarán National Park
Horse-packing field equipment to 15,000 ft
Extracting organic soils many meters below the surface
Teacher's Assistant
Dana has experience as a Teacher's Assistant and guest lecturer at UC Berkeley, Feather River College and Colorado State University. She taught at the UC Berkeley Forestry Field Camp in Plumas County, California for three summer semesters (2012-2014). She assisted with Rangeland Conservation and Stewardship, Ecological Restoration, and Advanced Ecological Restoration at Colorado State University. She frequently guest lectures in the Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Environmental Studies Programs at FRC.
Dana is engaged in youth environmental education, believing it is important to begin discussions about natural resources and wild spaces at an early age. She instructed at a countywide outdoor education camp, coordinated watershed exploration field trips by rafting local rivers, and developed Earth Science curriculum for middle and elementary school students. She organized monthly field trips and logistics for sixty students, parents, teachers, and staff to explore and learn about local ecosystems.