Students and faculty of Eastern Oregon University are engaged in field education and research projects at End Creek. Students of Principles of Biology and General Chemistry conduct annual monitoring of water quality in End Creek and South Fork Willow Creek. They assess parameters that include water temperature, dissolved oxygen content, nitrates, phosphates, and invertebrate populations.

End Creek provides a perfect location for discussions of land use ethics and how to balance resource needs with conservation goals. 

"Today I felt important.  Like for once I was helping acquire useful data as a student.  It was nice to see the potential that this project has.  I feel like I am involved with something great, even if I only contributed a little.  Today I felt like a real biologist for the first time in my career."

                     K.B.

Several research projects will begin at End Creek in spring 2008.  Three common snail species occur at End Creek, with different population densities of each species in each of three perennial ponds.  Undergraduate research students working with Dr. Karen Antell are beginning a project to understand the environmental factors that contribute to these snail species' distributions.

A unique assemblage of native wetland and vernal pool plants emerged from the soil seed bank in spring 2007.  Some of these species are undocumented historically in the Grande Ronde Valley and others no longer occur elsewhere in the valley due to habitat loss. Plant transects will be established in spring 2008 to begin to monitor the recovery and establishment of this unique ecosystem.