Faculty members Rosanne Mistretta and Roseanne Liberti are piloting a new environmental program, “Model My Watershed,” in Roseanne’s seventh grade science class.

The students have access to an online, map-based tool that will allow them to learn about how water flows in Jenkintown Creek and explore the environmental impacts of such changes as building near the creek or replacing ground cover. The program is being sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Millersville University and the Stroud Water Research Center.

Last year, the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, the Villanova University Urban Stormwater Partnership and Temple University installed a weather station on the roof of the school to monitor the riparian buffer. The station tracks temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind speed and other weather-related elements. Along with a flow meter installed in the creek, it’s possible to monitor the inflow and outflow of the stream, which has its headwaters on campus and is part of the Delaware River Watershed. Villanova also installed water-monitoring equipment at the rain garden constructed last fall.

Last Thursday, scientists from Villanova described for the students how they use the data collected by all of this equipment to monitor the health of the watershed. Students will be doing their own data collection and analysis on our campus as part of the program.