San Francisco Estuary Institute

Placement Site Address: 4911 Central Ave, Richmond, CA 94804 

Richmond, California (CA) - City Data Information Link

Mentors: Ariella Chelsky, PhD, Managing Senior Scientist and Katie Noland, Associate Environmental Scientist

Number of Years Site has hosted WSP Corpsmembers: 1

Number of Corpsmembers at Site: 2  

Service Hours: 8-hour days: 85%      10-hour days: 10%   >10-Hour days: 5%

 Housing Offered: No      

Work Vehicle Provided: Yes

CM Time Spent in Field/Office:

In the field: 35%

In the office: 65%

Corpsmember Activities:

H₂O Quality Monitoring: 30% 

Storm Water Mitigation: 5%

Commuting To/From Field Sites: 5%   

Biological Sample Analysis / Lab Work: 30%

Data Synthesis and Reporting: 5%  

Data Entry: 25%

Placement Site Objectives and Organizational Needs: 

SFEI advances visionary science that is foundational to rebuilding and sustaining the chemical, physical, and biological health and the resiliency of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and beyond. At SFEI, Corpsmembers will work within the Clean Water Program to support the San Francisco Bay Nutrient Management Strategy Program (NMS). They will work with the NMS team to increase the monitoring capacity of the NMS program. The goal of the NMS program is to build the necessary scientific foundation to inform regional nutrient management decisions that will improve the health and resiliency of water quality in the San Francisco Bay. At its core, this scientific foundation comes from the various long-term water quality monitoring projects that the NMS conducts.

Specifically, Corpsmembers will work with the NMS team to:

Help maintain a network of long-term continuous water quality monitoring stations deployed throughout the Central, South, and Lower South Bay that are only accessible by boat. Data gathered from these monitoring stations provides information on current water quality conditions at a fine spatial and temporal resolution.

Provide assistance with data management and QAQC of data collected from the water quality monitoring stations. This data is used to track low dissolved-oxygen events and the progression of harmful algal blooms, to calibrate and validate various water quality and hydrodynamic models, and to determine suitable habitat for fish communities including salmonids.

Manage the continuous deployment of two water quality monitoring stations in managed salt ponds in the Lower South Bay. These salt ponds were historically used for industrial salt production and are now undergoing restoration as part of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. The data gathered from these monitoring stations are crucial in assessing the impact of salt pond restoration on water quality in the shallow sloughs of the Lower South Bay, which are important habitats for many sensitive species like sturgeon and salmon.

Pending funding, Corpsmembers may also collect and process mussel samples from stations around the perimeter of the Bay to monitor common harmful toxins released by phytoplankton. These harmful toxins are absorbed into the tissue of mussels as they filter feed, so the concentration identified in the mussel tissue serves as a proxy for recent concentrations in the water column. When concentrations are high in the water column, these harmful toxins can lead to mass mortality events of fish and marine mammals.

Mentorship Style:

Site Mentors Ariella Chelsky and Katie Noland will collectively oversee all safety and training outlined in the WSP Mentor Position Description. Ariella Chelsky will lead all weekly check-ins with Corpsmembers throughout their service term to discuss progress, address challenges, and provide mentorship for their WAVE and WOW! tasks. Katie Noland will manage their day-to-day activities and train the Corpsmembers on SFEI field, lab, and office protocols.

Ariella and Katie will co-mentor the Corpsmembers equally throughout the service term since the water quality fieldwork is ongoing throughout the year.

Unique Characteristics of Placement Site: 

SFEI is a highly unique Placement Site for the following reasons:

SFEI is a large environmental research institute and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with more than 70 interdisciplinary scientists working in and across numerous fields, including environmental chemistry, fluvial and estuarine modeling, ecology, wildlife biology, landscape planning, historical ecology, geomorphology, geospatial analysis, web development, and science communications. Corpsmembers will have exposure to many different environmental disciplines and access to a diverse network of scientists, both at SFEI and through external partners. Mentors can pair Corpsmembers with staff members for more information, supplemental projects, or career advice, depending on their areas of interest.

A large portion of our staff are entry- and mid-level in their career and have recently graduated from BS, MS, and PhD programs. Corpsmembers will join a community of young environmental professionals who can share advice on navigating the environmental field as an early career professional.

At SFEI, Corpsmembers will get exposure working on regulation-driven, applied research. There are many unique challenges and opportunities that come with working in such an urbanized system like the San Francisco Bay, such as balancing the needs of management agencies that have different regulatory-mandates and management drivers. Corpsmembers will have the opportunity to join NMS Steering Committee Meetings and/or the RMP Annual Meeting.

Numerous SFEI staff, including Lucy Montgomery, the Site Field Leader for WSP, are WSP alumni. They can offer Corpsmembers valuable insights and guidance on navigating WSP successfully and foster a supportive environment where Corpsmembers can connect over shared experiences.

Corpsmembers will have the unique and valuable experience of independently managing a monitoring project, including leading fieldwork and pre/post fieldwork coordination.

Corpsmembers will gain experience supporting or leading fieldwork on various boats, with the added benefit of world class views of the San Francisco Bay!

Corpsmembers will have the opportunity to learn and actively apply data QAQC procedures to high frequency datasets.

Corpsmembers will have their own office, computer, Google account, free parking and access to SFEIs well-stocked snack room.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Desired in CM: 

Organized and proactive approach to work

Interest in water quality or biogeochemistry

Attention to detail, careful technique when using scientific instruments

Experience or interest in doing fieldwork, particularly on a boat