Lookout Creek Water Sampling 2022

Graduate student Jaime Ortega, a visiting scholar from Panama, works with Dr. Catalina Segura at Oregon State University. Jaime’s graduate research project evaluates the relative streamflow contribution of a spring-fed headwater stream to a higher order stream in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. Every week for approximately 12 months, Jaime collected stream water samples in 10 spots in the Lookout Creek watershed, including Lookout, McRae, Mack, Longer, Nostoc, and Cold Creeks. Jaime uses the stable isotopes (18O and 2H) and stream chemistry (cations and anions) to the determine the water sources and how the water moves in the stream network. With this information, Jaime hopes to learn more about the importance of headwater streams during high and low flow conditions in the river system.