Field Trips - 2026 Delaware River Watershed Forum

Bicycle Tour of the White Clay Creek National Wild & Scenic River

Join us for a scenic 10-mile guided bicycle tour of the White Clay Creek National Wild & Scenic River. The ride will depart from the conference center and travel upstream into the White Clay Valley on unpaved trails through the Bi-State Preserve, crossing from Delaware into Pennsylvania before looping back to our starting point at the university.

This is a flat, mild bicycle ride where we will see removals of White Clay Creek Dams No. 4 and No. 7 underway, an Indigenous village at the confluence of the east and west branches of the creek in Pennsylvania, a Baptist meeting house and graveyard with the legend of the "ticking tomb," beautiful first-order tributaries including Blue Hen Creek, Black Bear Run, Bald Eagle Creek, and Panther Run, and one of just six trout streams in Delaware.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own bicycles, but up to 20 bicycles will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis for those who need a bicycle provided. Registrants will be contacted in early September to inquire about their plans to bring or borrow a bicycle.

Community Engagement with Sacred Grounds

Shuttle bus transportation will be provided between the University of Delaware and the field trip site.

Join Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light for "Community Engagement with Sacred Grounds." This field trip is an opportunity to learn about one model for faith-based environmental stewardship and how communities can engage volunteers. You will also hear from a member of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek about their experience stewarding their pollinator meadow. We will begin with the presentation, then we will embark on a guided walk through the meadow to explore the variety of native plants and trees!

From Recovery to Resilience: Flood Adaptation and Watershed Solutions at the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art

Shuttle bus transportation will be provided between the University of Delaware and the field trip site.

PLEASE NOTE:

This trip will run a bit longer than the other field trips. At the conclusion of the activity, the bus will make a stop at the Ashland Nature Center for those individuals wishing to attend the evening reception and utilize shuttle transportation. This drop off will occur at approximately 5:45PM. Following the drop off at Ashland Nature Center, the bus will return remaining passengers to the University of Delaware.

Explore how the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art transformed the impacts of Hurricane Ida into an opportunity to strengthen long-term flood resilience. Participants will tour the Chadds Ford campus, visit areas affected by the 2021 flooding, and learn about completed and planned flood adaptation projects, building retrofits, and emergency preparedness efforts.

The tour also highlights watershed-scale resilience initiatives, including the Hoffman's Mill Dam Removal project and floodplain restoration efforts identified through the Brandywine Flood Study. Participants will gain insight into how infrastructure improvements, nature-based solutions, regional partnerships, and community engagement are helping build a more resilient Brandywine Creek watershed.

Johnston Park Community Bioretention Basin Project

During this field trip, participants will discuss the model of implementation and funding sources that were used to implement the bioretention basin at Johnston Park that reflects more than 10 years of visioning and planning by the Northeast Community and the additional 5,000ft adjacent buffer garden. Learn about our model for sustainability and how maximizing the co-benefits was at the heart of the design. The site visit will also feature representatives from Straughan Environmental, City of Wilmington Parks staff, and other project partners who helped bring this effort to life.

Shuttle bus transportation provided for participants between the University of Delaware and the field trip site.

Northeast Rising: Community Based Climate Resilience in Wilmington, Delaware

Visit Northeast Wilmington's Eleventh Street Bridge community, where the Brandywine River overflowed its banks, causing severe flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in September 2021. Residents will share their experiences of the day, including boat rescue; recovering from the flood through community-led efforts; and organizing through the Northeast Rising initiative to advance community-led climate resilience, disaster preparedness, and watershed education.

Participants will learn about ongoing efforts to transform a city-owned municipal yard into a nature-based flood mitigation project featuring a living shoreline and flood park. The tour will highlight community engagement strategies, partnerships, and lessons learned in working with local decision-makers to advance resilience solutions in environmental justice neighborhoods. Depending on progress at the project site, the tour may also include a visit to the Conscious Connections urban farm and community food production site. At Conscious Connections, attendees will gain practical insights into community food security, urban food growing, rain catchment and irrigation systems as ways to keep stakeholders engaged while creating replicable approaches to addressing climate and flooding challenges within the watershed.

Bus transportation will be provided for participants between the University of Delaware and the field trip site.