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Graduation Date

12-2017

Document Type

Portfolio

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Name

Environmental Studies

School or Department

Environmental Studies

Abstract

The central theme of my four portfolio pieces is restoring watersheds and building watershed communities. Each component of my portfolio approaches this theme differently. Using a broad approach allowed me to explore the various ways communities, watersheds, and restoration can intersect. My first portfolio piece analyzes cost-effectiveness of low-technology erosion control structures. These were used as part of a project to restore California Gulch, near Anaconda, MT. The second piece begins with a legislative history of exempt well policy in Montana. It goes on to study the collaborative processes used in developing an exempt well bill in the 2017 legislature, then makes recommendations for future collaborative efforts in a memorandum to the Water Policy Interim Committee’s chair. The third piece is an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on the Big Hole watershed. Through service-learning, 8th-11th grade students learn about the area before participating in a local restoration project. The fourth piece contains two documents relating to work I have done in the field of watershed restoration, and building watershed communities. The first is a reflection from my summer working in the field for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality on the Stream Reference Project. The second is a memorandum to the executive director of the Montana Watershed Coordination Council, summarizing the findings of a survey I developed and sent out to MWCC’s membership.

Restoring Watersheds and Building Watershed Communities

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