What can be done to prevent water erosion in coastal zones? Three students are answering that question with thorough research and experimentation.

Upper Cape Technical High School students Ann Marie Lupino, Jack Rogers, and Bailey Nance will present their project to a panel of judges at the Skills USA Career Pathways Showcase on April 28 - 30 in Marlborough.

"It's important to measure erosion because the more things erode, like in the coastline in Wareham or any other place, the beaches and the area around it becomes more vulnerable to destruction," said Lupino, a resident of Wareham.

"If a salt marsh starts to erode and there's a beach behind it, and the salt marsh is protecting it, then there's no longer any protection for the beach and the beach will erode."

According to Lupino, between the years of 2004 and 2009, wetlands were lost at an average rate of about 80,000 acres per year. The erosion will continue on and water will win in each circumstance unless preventive measures are taken.

The purpose of the project is to "help restore wetlands, salt marshes, and ecosystems" and "educate about wetlands and salt marshed decrease by erosion."

They began their project in November at Parkwood Beach in central Wareham. Placing instruments in the salt marsh, they measured wave activity and erosion with rods for four months.

Raw data regarding the water quality (pH, salinity, nitrogen, and nitrate balances) of the area was sent by the Buzzards Bay Coalition to Lupino and her team. The students also took samples from Wareham River and Onset Bay and tested them.

Throughout the entirety of the project, Luppino and her classmates reached out to different organizations and built relationships.

The students even reached out to the Wareham CARE Program, an after-school program for middle school kids, and did a program in February called "Hands in the Dirt" where students tested erosion with potting soil, grass and soil, and rocks.

They are currently enrolled in the Environmental Science and Technology Program at Upper Cape and will be entering the competition's Agriculture/Natural Resources/Food division.