Personal Info:

Full name: Gricelda Meraz

Occupation: Part time work: Ecological Restoration Institute, Forestry & the Freshwater Ecology Lab, Biology

Full time student: Northern Arizona University

Major: Environmental Sciences; minor: Spanish; emphasis: biology

Hometown: Parker, Arizona (but really I'm from Poston, AZ-and born in California.)

Hobbies: Hiking, camping, traveling, and playing my guitar

Cool Facts about me:  I traveled to Guatemala for 3 weeks and México for 2 weeks this past summer.  I will complete my last semester (Spring 2004) in Valencia, Spain.

Cool Links:

Spanish Guitar Tabs: http://www.atame.org

Concert and event info: http://www.pollstar.com

Research Project: Fossil Creek is located on the Coconino and Tonto National Forests, near Strawberry, Arizona.  Fossil Creek supports a variety of fish, invertebrate, and plant species (Marks et al. 2002).  The stream was dammed in 1916 by Arizona Public Service (APS)-the dam is scheduled for decommissioning On Dec, 31 2004.  Fossil creek water is diverted by flume to Irving/Childs power plant facilities.  In 1993, the stream was declared eligible for inclusion into the National Wild and Scenic River system.  3 options are being considered for restoration-option 1: restoration of full flows leaving dam in place; option 2: restoration of full flows and removal of the top two meters of dam; option 3: restoration of full flows and removal of entire dam.  My study will look at the densities and food consumption of an exotic crayfish population in Fossil Creek.

Literature Cited:

Marks, J.C., E.C. Dinger, and G.A. Haden.  2002.  Biological Assessment of Restoration Options for Fossil Creek, AZ (Draft).  Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ.  45p.

Measuring crayfish carapace length

On a backpacking trip in Fossil Creek, (I mean research trip)

   Weighing crayfish on a field scale

My study site: beautiful Fossil Creek, AZ

A true field truck