On Thursday July 20th, I had the pleasure of joining my fellow ALLARM members, Lindsay VanFossen (Water Quality Technician), Phoebe Galione (Outreach Manager), and Whimsy Mark-Ockerbloom ’24 on a three-hour road trip to Westmoreland County for the Stream Team’s one-year monitoring check-in. The purpose of the meeting with Westmoreland Stream Team was twofold – first to see how monitoring was going, to chat about current sites, and to see if any changes made; and second to collect the groups quality control samples which were would bring back to Carlisle for testing. During the car ride, my fellow colleagues and I prepped by reading the agenda for the evening and learning about the tasks we would each be responsible for. I was eager to attend the meeting as I am from Westmoreland County, so I was excited to meet volunteers that were monitoring so close to home!
When we got to Westmoreland, we were greeted by Justin Mansberger, Extension Educator and Master Watershed Steward Coordinator. My role was to work at the sign-in station, refill volunteer kits, and put any Quality Control (QC) samples delivered to us into the ALLARM cooler. Lindsay VanFossen facilitated the meeting (her first check-in meeting!), asking the volunteers how monitoring was going, if their site still served them, if data uploading was going well, etc. I was interested in hearing about each of the volunteers site’s characteristics as they all differed from one another. I think the most intriguing (and perhaps concerning) site that I heard about was the one that our volunteers Karen and Carrie were monitoring. Their site is along an impaired stream with a tested pH of 3!
Overall, attending the Westmoreland check-in meeting was insightful and educational. I had the ability to learn about what my fellow community members were doing and how their monitoring was going. This experience showed me the different diverse perspectives our volunteers have as well as the unique sites they monitor. I hope to keep in touch with our Westmoreland volunteers during my time at ALLARM, and potentially help them out if needed in the future!
