Students getting ready to sample water in the Arboretum Waterway as part of the Wild Davis course.

Wild Davis Course: Students Collect Samples at Arboretum to Measure Water Quality

  • by Sherri M Mann

Laci Gerhart, an assistant professor of teaching in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, teaches EVE 016 or Wild Davis, which offers students the chance to learn about community science and the urban ecology and natural history of Davis.  And in conjunction with that course...  The Arboretum and Public Garden at UC Davis is about to get a fresh set of water quality data after students fanned out earlier this month along the Arboretum Waterway to measure salinity and fecal coliform levels.  The three-hour session began with a lecture, then moved to the Arboretum for sampling and back to a lab to analyze what students collected. The information will be shared with Arboretum management to help provide a glimpse into the health of the creek.