A group of Mira Loma High School students has earned a reputation known throughout greater Sacramento.
But it's all good.
Mira Loma juniors and seniors have collected such excellent data on a watershed close to campus that their findings have been used in a 2008 report commissioned by the city of Sacramento and the State Water Resources Board.
The report included data students collected about the Arcade Creek's water life, which includes aquatic worms, Asian clams, mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies. The prevalence of such species correlates to water quality.
Mira Loma research also has been used by graduate students at UC Davis, Sonoma State University and California State University, Sacramento.
The teens also serve on the Sacramento County Urban Creeks Council, a group that monitors and protects such waterways.
At the root of their acclaim is the high schoolers' study of the 17-mile-long Arcade Creek, which runs from Citrus Heights to Steelhead Creek in the city of Sacramento.
These teens spend hours in fisherman-style waders to collect samples from the stream and countless more on the creek's banks in all kinds of weather.
"I love it," said Emma Krenzin-Balnk, about what the students refer to as the "Creek Project," which is now in its 10th year at the school. "I'm already done with my (required) hours, but I am doing more. I really like being in nature and this work is entertaining and educational."
Some 250 juniors and seniors are part of the Creek Project this year. They're divided among 11 studies at six outdoor sites. They look at the quality of the water and sediment, watch for invasive species, observe vertebrates, collect plant samples and map the length of the creek.
In doing such field work, these students also fullfil the science requirement of the International Baccalaureate Diploma, which each hopes to earn.
The diploma, recognized in universities throughout the world, is known for its rigorous curriculum and focuses on creating "global citizens."
A few days ago, a dozen students from the botany, technology and habitat assessment teams spent after-school time mapping a 10-foot-by-10-foot portion of the creek's habitat, part of an effort to map the whole creek, both its water and the flora on its banks.
"Hey, are you guys interested in the red sesbania? 'Cause there's definitely one down at site nine, " yelled Haylie Casey, who was the botany group representative that day.
Sesbania, a bush, is an invasive species, she said, and can out-compete native plants.
Farther down the bank, Krenzin-Balnk, in partnership with Jessica Donnachie, marked the 10-foot-by-10-foot square using yellow measuring tape and a compass.
Senior Liz Marta, who is in charge of this particular mini-study, habitat assessment, directed them.
Marta said mapping the trees and bushes along the bank creates a record that can be compared to previous years' maps. Data can then be teased out to explain a change in bug life in the creek, for example.
"If bio assessment (one of the mini-studies) finds different bugs in the water, it could be because a tree fell," she said. "Everything, all the studies come together."
Call The Bee's Melissa Nix, (916) 321-1090.
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