The program reaches a high percentage of Navajo and female students who will help cultivate a diverse workforce including resource managers. Razorback suckers, endangered fish endemic to the Colorado River Basin, are being reared in the ponds to maintain a backup brood stock and to grow large enough so they are not vulnerable to predation when stocked in the wild. Students routinely monitor water quality, fish growth, and health, and harvest fish for stocking. Students also contributed to the collection of razorback sucker larvae in Lake Mohave, at the southern end of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, to help the Native Fish Work Group reach their projected capture rate for 1999. They also assisted with pit-tagging bonytail chub, an endangered species, for stocking.
Students provide a necessary link between the local community and federal land managers.
They learn the scientific basis for water quality and rangeland management decisions, both highly political and economic issues in the park. Through these courses they are given an opportunity to be involved in an internship with Utah State University, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and the Bureau of Land Management. She is a recipient of the American Museum of Natural History's Young Naturalist Award 2000 for her telling paper about her rangeland study being completed at Glen Canyon. These students provide a necessary link between the local community and federal land managers. Students create original presentations on their project work, which they give to park managers, community members, and younger students.