IR/PS Student Nina Jean Thurston quoted in UCSD News story
UCSD Researcher and Students Fight to Restore Vital Coastal Wetland
11/13/2007
Ioana Patringenaru,
This Week @UCSD
".... Oscar Romo and his UCSD students have set their sights on improving life in Los Laureles canyon and the university has been providing technical assistance and funding for their efforts. One of their most ambitious projects aims to build 40 sustainable homes from the ground up in the canyon. So far, the project has raised enough funds for three dwellings. The homes will be made of bamboo, which UCSD students suggested as a construction material because it can grow locally, Romo said. A micro-sewage plant that will treat wastewater from the neighborhood also is in the works.
Meanwhile, UCSD students and faculty have set up a nursery in the canyon to bring back native plants that have been driven away by erosion, floods and construction. Romo said he hopes local residents will then take ownership of that project. Finally, about 70 community meetings have taken place in the canyon. Residents learned about the risks associated with waste water and trash, Romo said.
In a way, the estuary’s issues reflect all the water issues going on in the region, said Nina Jean Thurston, a student at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UCSD. She works as Romo’s assistant at the reserve."
Click here to read the entire article.
