The Department of Civil Engineering has a 10-acre patch of the bosque, a Spanish name referring to the Rio Grande River and adjoining cottonwood forest that bisect Albuquerque, that provides volunteers for the city and educational opportunities for students.
Through the decades, urban development, non-native plant growth and river management policies affected the health of the river and the bosque. Now, UNM civil engineering students and faculty are learning from the land and using those lessons to help shape strategies that will restore and protect the river and the bosque for generations to come.
According to Dr. Julie Coonrod, P.E., assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering (above right), "The soil class learns about in-situ soil testing, the surveying class provides surveys, the fluid mechanics students measure three-dimensional velocity in the river, and many hydrology students make the site the focus of their class projects. In addition, the site complements the current Rio Grande research in which several of us are involved."
Coonrod and fellow civil engineering professor, Dr. John Stormont, P.E., are conducting a number of research studies at the location. Stormont, a geoenvironmental engineer, specializes in the vadose zone, or the unsaturated part of the soil above the water table. He is a co-principal investigator with Coonrod on a research project called The Bosque Soil Evaporation Monitoring and Modeling study.
"Our goal is to take all the data we collect and analyze and make it available to people who are making decisions about restoration strategies for the bosque. But the knowledge we gain will be applicable to many other locations," explains Stormont.
While the department uses the Bosque Lab frequently, they have only just begun to tap the site's potential. Tim Ward, Professor and Department Chair, adds, "Our mission at UNM is to educate students so that they are well-equipped to participate in the world as productive and enlightened individuals. There is no better way to do this than through experiential learning."