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| Vol. 18, No. 38 | Aug. 5, 1999 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 38 | Aug. 5, 1999 |
For many years, volunteers have been adopting a highway and picking up trash from the nation's roadsides. Now volunteers are involved in cleaning up its wetlands. In Delaware, the moving force is the Adopt-A-Wetland program, sponsored by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). One of its most enthusiastic supporters is Sharon Tucker, who teaches biology in the UD Parallel Program in Dover.
This year, thanks to her leadership, the faculty and students of the Parallel Program in Dover received the Kent Country Adoption Achievement Award for "outstanding commitment and Herculean efforts in cleaning up and watching over various wetland areas along the St. Jones River."
For the past five years, Tucker has led her students on a clean-up of a section of the St. Jones River where bluffs overlook wetlands below. "The area obviously was used as a dump for several years and all kinds of things were shoved over the edge to the area below," Tucker said.
" It was mucky and muddy in the wetlands, and we had to use sticks and big pails to support our weight as we walked around. One student accidentally stepped out of her boots which disappeared totally in the mud," Tucker said.
"The first year we started picking up trash, there were tires, parts of cars, refrigerators-you name it. There was literally more than a ton of junk, which we gathered and DNREC disposed of. The average amount of trash a year is about 600 pounds, but it has decreased, so maybe people are becoming more aware of the importance of caring for the environment," she said.
But that area of the St. Jones River held more than just trash. Native American artifacts were discovered there so the area has been closed off for further study.
Tucker and her students then were assigned the Silver Lake area for one year behind Dover High School, which is part of the St. Jones watershed. Shopping carts were a popular trash item in that area, she said.
Tucker usually takes her students out for the clean-up during the winter when plants, snakes and insects are dormant. "It's a community outing with students' children and families, friends and others joining in. The Silver Lake Association provided boots, and Playtex donated gloves, which were a great help," Tucker said.
Her biology classes also monitor the river by taking water samples to examine under the microscope, checking oxygen levels and performing chemical testing.
Tucker earned her doctorate in limnology (fresh water biology) from Rutgers University. Her interest in fresh water biology began as a child during summer vacations in northern Minnesota, where she spent time fishing, swimming, canoeing and learning about frogs and other aquatic forms of life.
She began teaching in the Parallel Program 14 years ago and also serves on the Kent County St. Jones River Greenway Commission, which is involved in establishing a greenway from Dover to the Delaware Bay. 
-Sue Moncure
