Description
This issue of LakeLine focuses on the efforts of the many volunteers who dedicate their time as stewards to our natural resources. The articles in this issue cover volunteer monitoring efforts on lakes and ponds and streams and rivers. Efforts range from local to international, and across a range of parameters, from water monitoring to biomonitoring, and ice in/ out to shoreline habitat assessments. Volunteers do it all and do it well.
Whatever term you prefer to use, volunteer monitor, water steward, citizen scientist, or something else, these dedicated volunteers contribute hugely to the science of our water resources. Because many of them live next to or near a waterbody, they literally are the eyes on the water, seeing the day to day changes in and around these waterbodies, which is something that a biologist in academia, or government (state, federal, or provincial) or the private sector can’t possibly do, given their need to focus on tens or hundreds or even thousands of waterbodies under their purview.
Volunteers who engage in monitoring waterbodies have a vested interest in the resource, and a passion for maintaining it and understanding it. Their efforts at monitoring are solid, following often detailed quality assurance and quality control methods and quality assurance project plans so that the data they collect are rigorous and sound, and can stand up equally with the data collected by trained scientists, and contribute to larger data sets in meaningful ways. Volunteers also work locally to share their knowledge and raise public awareness about water quality and protection efforts, often presenting their data at local association meetings, municipal events, and sometimes even professional scientific conferences. Their contributions are greatly appreciated, as evidenced by the articles contained within this issue.
Click the links below to view the full issue or the articles on their own:
- LakeLine 46-1 Full
- From the Editor
Amy Smagula - From the President
Julie Chambers - Volunteer education, empowerment, and water quality monitoring at Lake Tahoe
Chris Joseph - The Secchi Dip-In technology and data evolution
Lisa Borre, Kathleen C. Weathers, Michael Forcella, Julie Chambers, Philip Forsberg, and Mark LeBaron - 55 years(!) of the nation’s first & longeststanding volunteer lake monitoring program!
Matthew Scott, Scott Williams, and Linda Bacon - Summers are short, but volunteer participation is long-term in New Hampshire
Amanda McQuaid, Georgia Bunnell, Alyssa Daigle, and Bob Craycraft - Reassessing the shoreline, reconnecting with place
Andrew Miller, Georgia Peck, and Tammy Davies - The Lake Partner Program: Empowering passion
Gavin Vance - Lake Erie Rangers: Community scientists on the frozen frontline
Gabrielle Parent-Doliner
- Preserving the legacy of lake ice records: Insights from a long-term community science network
Faith Ferrato, Sapna Sharma, Patrick Collins, Debra Kundert, Bill Raaths, Greg Sass, Georgina Shafer, Cathie Taylor, and Jennifer Tice
- Small streams fuel big insights: Volunteer monitoring in the Beaver Lake Watershed
Olivia Schaap, Erin Scott, and Ayla Grace
- Electrofishing the Woonasquatucket: Science, recovery, and community in action
Gianna Lourenco, William O’Connor, and Alexia DiLorenzo
- Student Corner – Early evidence of shoreline bog collapse in a eutrophying New Jersey lake
Claire Paul - Tools of the Trade – Lowering the barriers: How the NALMS SHINY APPS SERVICE is expanding access to powerful data tools
Jen Stamp, Tim Martin ,and Erik W. Leppo - Variable earth material, backshore erosion, and mitigation at Lewisville Lake, Texas
Paul F. Hudak - “Lakespert” – Lake Volunteer Lessons
Steve Lundt, CLM
