Get Involved with NRNC

ABOUT NRNC
Map and Directions
Hours
Parking
Fundraising

AQUATIC RESERVE

BECOME A MEMBER

VOLUNTEER
Volunteer Calendar

WILDLIFE AT NRNC
Birds
Invertebrates

RESEARCH

EDUCATION

PHOTOS

HOME



Nisqually Reach Nature Center
4949 D'Milluhr Dr. NE
Olympia WA 98516-2311

(360) 459-0387
NRNC@NisquallyEstuary.org

Forage Fish Survey Report	Pigeon Guillemot Survey 2014 Report

RESEARCH

The Nisqually Reach / Estuary/ Delta / River / Watershed area is rich with research opportunities, and the Nature Center occasionally supports or carries out research projects focused on the delta and estuary. We have also co-sponsored Nisqually research symposia to high-light research projects from throughout the basin.

Additionally, the Nisqually Indian Tribe sponsors an abundance of salmon population and habitat research in the river and throughout the watershed. The US Fish and Wildlife Service sponsors and conducts research on the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge plant and animal communities. The US Geological Survey conducts seismic, water resources, and groundwater research throughout the basin. Volunteers collect and analyze samples from beaches to help scientists understand where and when these small fish are depositing eggs on the beach. During the summer, volunteers monitor Pigeon Guillemot breeding sites around the South Sound, including the Aquatic Reserve, to help establish the numbers of breeding pairs and where their burrows are located.

Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve Citizen Science

Volunteers are actively participating in two citizen science surveys under the auspices of the Citizen Stewardship Committee of the Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve. The surveys are collecting data on Forage Fish, Pigeon Guillemot Breeding, and Visitor Use at Luhr Beach.

For more details, click here.

Research Internship Opportunities

The Nature Center is interested in supporting high school and undergraduate college students in designing and carrying out individual or team research projects which seek to answer questions on basic science and resource management issues in cooperation with their academic institution.

Nisqually Delta Habitat Restoration Monitoring

The Nisqually Indian Tribe is carrying out a sequence of habitat restoration projects on Tribal lands on the Pierce County side of the delta, and the Nature Center is cooperating with the Tribe in conducting some of the monitoring programs. A high salt marsh vegetation tidal elevation base line study was completed in 2002. Bird use monitoring of an intertidal wetlands restoration dike-breach site was begun in 2002 and is on-going.

Click here, and scroll down on that page to see some of the data.