Event information: Institute for Lifelong Learning, February 5, 12, 26, Bosler Memorial Library, Carlisle, PA
Tuesday afternoons this February got a whole lot livelier with the second installation of the Institute for Lifelong Learning (ILL) Streams Short Courses. The weekly topics covered Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay (restoration history, water quality policy), Stormwater (background information, MS4 policy, best management practices), and Streams 101 (watershed hydrology, visual and biological water quality monitoring overview). We packed a lot of information into these talks and finished off every Tuesday with fun hands-on activities. There was great energy in the room each week, and we were so glad to have a group of engaged and insightful participants!
After working with ALLARM for four years, I can decidedly say that all of my most cherished memories of my work are from presentations and workshops. ILL has now been added to that list of favorite experiences. It was so rewarding to give long-format presentations on interesting topics and to take advantage of the expertise I have built through my projects at ALLARM and my Earth Sciences major. This made ILL a perfect project for me to tackle in my last semester here. Robust discussions flowed during the Q&A sessions, and the hands-on activities were all fun exercises. My favorite activity was examining macroinvertebrates under the microscope! Even though they’re “macro” scale (they can be seen with the naked eye), using a microscope lets you see their features with more clarity. -Allison
This is my first outreach workshop at ALLARM. For the past semester I have been working under the stormwater program and for Institute of Lifelong Learning, I had the opportunity to present about stormwater to community members of the Carlisle community. It was interesting to see how engaged people were about the topics Allison and I tackled throughout the sessions. Another highlight of my Institute for Lifelong Learning experience was teaching the participants about different types of macroinvertebrates and how they are indicators of stream health. For our hands-on activity, I was enthusiastic about my favorite macroinvertebrate, which is the Armored Mayfly. -Angelo
Angelo helps ILL participants identify macroinvertebrates under the microscope during the Streams 101 course.