Huxley’s John Rybczyk awarded Nature Conservancy grant; students to assist in research

John Rybczyk, Western Washington University associate professor of Environmental Science, has been awarded a $12,567 grant from the Nature Conservancy to study sediment accretion in the Port Susan Bay area of the Stillaguamish River estuary.

Rybczyk said the objectives of the project are to restore self-sustaining native tidal wetlands that support estuarine-dependent animals, improve juvenile salmon access to restored rearing habitats, and to improve connectivity between the river and tidal habitats.

The grant was awarded to assist in the development and execution of a long-term monitoring plan to assess the efficacy of the restoration project, Rybczyk said.

“As part of this grant, students in my spring quarter Estuarine Ecology class will assist in the development of the monitoring plan and in the installation of monitoring instruments at the restoration site,” he said.