The weeklong geosciences education project, which features educational activities organized by a partnership including Olympic Park Institute, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park and Western Carolina University, is designed to help interest young members of the tribe in pursing scientific careers, said Rob Young, associate professor of geosciences at WCU.

“The project is unique in that the kids are being taught science and culture side by side,” Young said. “We hope this makes the science more interesting and more relevant. We are combining stories that are important to the tribe with scientific activities at many sites along the river. We hope to convince tribal young people that they can be scientists and that science has something relevant to offer them and their community.”

Young and his partners say that many tribes across the United States, including the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, are using environmental restoration projects to help reclaim their altered cultural heritage.

The construction of the 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam and the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha more than 70 years ago has choked off salmon runs for most of the past century and dramatically changed what was once a sandy coastal environment. The flooding of the Elwha River Valley altered many sites considered sacred by tribal members.

Through the $90,000 NSF project, the students are involved with hands-on geoscience education activities that are being integrated into traditional, culturally based summer activities currently sponsored by the tribe. To help ensure the participation of the tribe’s young people in the project, many tribal leaders are donating their time to the effort.

Educators with the Olympic Park Institute, the Elwha Tribe, Olympic National Park and other partners have worked extremely hard on organizing the week’s educational activities, Young said.

“I believe that this project will serve as a model for other science education projects targeting tribal young people,” Young added. “I am particularly impressed with how the tribe has bent over backwards to make this project happen for their kids.”

Young has been involved in the Elwha Dam removal project since 2004 and helped design a long-term plan to monitor the impact of the removal of the dams on the quality of water in the river. Although the project is expected to eventually result in enhanced water quality, removal of the dams will release several million cubic yards of sediment into the Elwha, initially hurting water quality. Young is using the precedent-setting coastal restoration project as a lesson for his geosciences students at WCU.