River Keeping in New Mexico

River Keeper. Watershed Keeper. There’s something poetic—maybe a bit Celtic—about these terms, which in the world of citizen science refer to someone monitoring a waterway for soil erosion, contaminants, and loss of biodiversity. Across the United States, with sonorous names like Willamette River Keepers and Chattahoochee River Keepers, citizen scientists are keeping watch over the … Read more “River Keeping in New Mexico”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Project Profile

Collaborative Citizen Science for Clean Water Management

By Lishka Arata, Conservation Educator at Point Blue Despite the current administration’s efforts to roll back the Clean Water Act and dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency, interest and participation is growing in a new EPA- and stakeholder-led citizen science project that aims to inform clean water management. The Cyanobacteria Monitoring Collaborative has been gathering steam … Read more “Collaborative Citizen Science for Clean Water Management”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Guest Contributor, Project Profile

Enter EPA’s Smart City Air Challenge!

What if you had access to air quality data — minute-by- minute — from hundreds of locations in your community at the same time? How would you manage that data– and how would you share it with your local residents? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering two communities $40,000 each to help figure that out. Currently, environmental … Read more “Enter EPA’s Smart City Air Challenge!”

Categories: Citizen Science, Project Profile

Citizen science pushes Hawai’i Department of Health to act on beach pollution

For the past seven years, citizen scientist volunteers with the Kaua’i chapter of the Surfrider Foundation Beach Watch Task Force have been testing the waters at 27 recreational sites along the Kaua’i coastline. This summer they achieved a victory when the Hawai’i Department of Health (HDOH) finally acknowledged the concerning levels of pollution in local … Read more “Citizen science pushes Hawai’i Department of Health to act on beach pollution”

Categories: Citizen Science, Project Profile