Expertise Guide
Mike Cohen, Associate Professor, Biology Department, SSU
Contact: (707) 664-3413; cohenm@sonoma.edu; website
Area of Water Expertise: Environmental microbiology, plant-microbe interactions, bioremediation, anaerobic digestion of aquatic vegetation and agricultural by-products.
Water-Related Courses Taught: Molecular and Cell Biology (BIO**); Bacteriology (BIO **); Environmental Microbiology (BIO **); Applied Microbiology (BIO **).
Water-Related Research: With the City of Santa Rosa, we are testing channelized scrubbers that contain aquatic plants and filamentous algae for their efficiency at removing nutrients and other pollutants from treated municipal wastewater. We are optimizing anaerobic digestion of the harvested scrubber biomass, mixed with agricultural by-products from local dairies and wineries, to produce methane gas. Other experiments examine the use of digester effluent as a plant growth-promoting soil amendment.
Water-Related Community Connections: City of Santa Rosa (water treatment)
Mike Thompson, Assistant General Manager - Business Operations, SCWA
Contact: 707-521-1863; michael.thompson@scwa.ca.gov; website
Area of Water Expertise: flood control channel development and restoration
Water-Related Responsibilities: Mr. Thompson has helped guide the transformation of Sonoma County’s flood control channels into living streams over the past 15 years. He has also helped lead development of the Sonoma County Youth Ecology Corps, which employs at-risk teenagers and young adults to undertake environmental projects.
Water-Related Community Connections: WATERS Collaborative Lead for SCWA, Sonoma County Youth Ecology Corps
Claudia Luke, Director Field Stations & Nature Preserves, SSU
Contact: 707-536-8915; claudia.luke@sonoma.edu; website
Area of Water Expertise: management-academic collaborations (habitat connectivity, fire management, coastal grassland restoration), environmental permitting, place-based education, protected lands management
Water-Related Responsibilities: As Director of the SSU Field Stations & Nature Preserves, I develop programs that encourage research and educational activities in watersheds surrounding our Preserves: Fairfield Osborn Preserve - Laguna de Santa Rosa Watershed; Los Guilicos Preserve - Sonoma Creek Watershed, and Galbreath Wildlands Preserve - Navarro River Watershed.
Water-Related Community Connections: WATERS Collaborative Coordinator, Board Member Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, Founding Member of SEEC (Sonoma Environmental Education Collaborative), Participant North Bay Climate Adaptation Initiative