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Northern CA PPSR Projects 1

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Welcome to our ongoing effort to catalog citizen science and other public participation in scientific research (PPSR) projects for UC California Naturalists and other citizen scientists.  We invite you to browse the listed projects or enter key words (like birds, youth, invasive, coast, Alameda, etc.) in the search box above to find projects in your area. It's a great way to stay involved and keep developing your skills as a natural scientist!

A vast majority of the information in the database was gathered from project websites and may be out of date. We encourage you to contact projects directly to get involved and learn about most recent opportunities. If you work with a listed project and would like to add to, update, or correct the information we have, please email cghdixon@ucdavis.edu. Also, please consider filling out the "PPSR perspectives" survey. Click here to access the survey, which will help guide this project in the coming year.

If you know of a project not on our list, please go to the "tell us about a project" link on the left so we can list the project here. Thanks for your help!

Special thanks goes to the National Science Foundation Informal Science Education program and the Stephen J. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation for supporting this database of projects.

Stream Team & Creek Stewards

  • Organization Name
    Heal the Bay
  • Project Website
  • Organization Website
  • Partners
    N / A
  • Contact Name
    N / A
  • Contact Email
    N / A
  • Contact Phone
    N / A
  • Other Contact Information
  • Project Purpose (taken from project materials)

    Determine where much of the pollution in Malibu creek is coming from, how development has impacted the creek, and where some of the most urgent pollution problems are.

  • Participant Activities

    Participants visit about 20 sites in the Malibu Creek watershed and conduct monthly water chemistry testing. They look at the site surroundings, speed of the water, clarity, and water temperature, and measure oxygen, dissolved solids, bacteria and nutrients. Stream Team enters this information into a database that then can track the health of a particular site over time, measuring impacts of things like development and rainfall.
    Past activities include:     mapping Malibu Creek and its tributaries, using GPS technology to pinpoint the location of outfalls, pollution sources, and degraded habitat; conducting extensive habitat restoration by removing invasive vegetation and replacing it with native plants; removing barriers to natural fish passage and migration, like the Texas Crossing in Serra Retreat; doing research on the insects that live in the creek, which are good indicators of the overall health of the ecosystem. 

  • Data Entry
    • Website
    • Collection Kits
    • Data Sheets
  • Other Participant Activities
    N / A
  • System Studied
    • Water Quality
    • Wetlands - Freshwater Streams and Marshes
    • Pollution Clean-up or Monitoring
  • Geographic Scope
    Local
  • Region
    Los Angeles
  • Location
    Malibu Creek Watershed
  • Location - Map
    1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California
  • Time Commitment
    • Unknown
  • Volunteer Qualifications
    N / A
  • Volunteer Training

    volunteers go through intensive training.

  • Cost to Participant
    N / A
  • How will the findings be used?

    Data used by Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains  and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. 
    Data map is publicly accessible. 

  • Other Information
    N / A
  • Photo
    N / A
  • last update:
    N / A

If you work with this project and would like to add to or update the information below, please email cghdixon@ucdavis.edu.

If you know of a project not on our list, please go to the "tell us about a project" link on the left so we can list the project here. Thanks for your help!

This database is focused on projects in California focused on the environment. For opportunities outside California, as well as national projects that don't have a California-specific components, check http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/projects.