The Watershed Conservation Research Center (WCRC) is a collaborative interdisciplinary effort among faculty, students and community partners to engage in conservation-based research and educational outreach in the upper Allegheny River basin.  

Established in the fall of 2021, our mission at the WCRC is to engage in strategic conservation activities and train future watershed stewards to protect, restore and enhance our land and water resources for future generations in the upper Allegheny River basin, focusing on the French Creek Watershed. 

Ways in which we accomplish our mission statement

● Research: Faculty and student researchers collect data to advance scientific knowledge to aid in the protection of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife species/habitats, and assess the watershed’s ecological value for regional economies. 

● Partnerships: We engage organizations, government agencies and the private sector to create student internships, identify research needs, conduct targeted place-based conservation research. Through these partnerships, we will magnify our research efforts to implement conservation actions.

● Education: We provide our students with experiential learning opportunities in the classroom and watershed.  We use an interdisciplinary approach to science communication, uniting conservation research with the creative arts, humanities and social sciences. 

The WCRC Team

Co-Directors, Drs. Kelly Pearce and Casey Bradshaw Wilson

Research Scientist, Dr. Mark Kirk

Assistant Research Scientist, Meredith Barney.

Chris Shaffer, GIS Specialist