On Saturday, June 4th, Director Julie Vastine, Community Science Specialist Stephanie Letourneau, and student watershed coordinators Charlotte Kratovil-Lavelle ‘24 and I travelled to Susquehanna County for ALLARM’s first in-person workshop since the start of the pandemic! We met with Master Watershed Stewards from the upper Susquehanna region, and introduced them to ALLARM and the process of monitoring for Stream Team.
We split into teams and guided the volunteers through the equipment used during the different phases of stream monitoring. It was refreshing to work alongside the volunteers in-person, and to share the tips and tricks I had learned from a semester of experimenting with equipment and refining my techniques in the lab. I also loved seeing the volunteers work among themselves and remind each other when to rinse before proceeding with the instructions in the manual.
Finally, we commuted to Woodbourne Preserves for the field experience portion of the training. Julie reviewed water clarity and stage, and gave volunteers a chance to practice using the transparency tube and gage stick under field conditions. The volunteers were also eager to learn about the physical components of a healthy stream through visual assessments, and crowdsourced one another to determine the outcomes for each category. The stream ultimately earned a pretty high score!
We then ended our day with a macro kick! It was so amazing to see the volunteers jumping right in, practicing the “macro shuffle” they learned minutes ago. Once the timer went off, the net was carefully removed and placed on a boulder for investigation. Identifying the macros was a hit, as everyone huddled together to count legs and reference distinctive features of each critter. We found a mayflies, crayfish, caddisflies, and even salamanders!
“Having lunch and hearing everyone’s stories was one of the most valuable experiences” Charlotte said following the event. “Nearly every volunteer’s reason for joining Stream Team stemmed from intrinsic attachments they had with water. One member talked about how they grew up fishing and another attributed their desire to participate in Stream Team to recent algal blooms near their home. One of the beauties of Stream Team is that it draws on this intrinsic care for one’s home and further promotes human-environment connections by prompting volunteers to visit their site once a month, hopefully allowing them to become invested.”
Overall, this in-person experience was incredibly fun and worthwhile for all of us. Working alongside volunteers and listening to their past experiences, interests in environmental and water science, and expertise about water quality in their region reminded us about the power of community science and the work we do. We look forward to collaborating with them in the future.
