Submitted by Eaton County Conservation District
(Photo Provided)
The Eaton County Collaborative Stream Monitoring Program has an exciting opportunity for community members to become involved in monitoring the water quality of their local streams! Through this program, community members will be trained as Community Scientists by staff from the Eaton Conservation District and The University of Olivet. No science background is required!
The program starts with a brief training session on the campus of The University of Olivet. Then Community Scientists are formed into teams to travel to stream collection sites around Eaton County. The teams will work together to collect and sort samples containing larval aquatic insects, or macroinvertebrates. Some team members will go into the streams to collect samples using nets, while others will sort through the samples on the streambank, picking out insects with tweezers. All necessary equipment will be provided.
The final night of the event will be held in a classroom at The University of Olivet. Community Scientists will use microscopes and guidebooks to identify the macroinvertebrates collected from the stream sites. Some macroinvertebrates are very sensitive to pollution, while other species are very tolerant of polluted water. The data collected on the quantity and diversity of insects in the streams will help conservation scientists identify polluted sites to direct future conservation efforts.
Community members of all ages are welcome to attend, though we ask that children be accompanied by an adult.
The fall collection and identification dates are below:
October 5, 1-5 p.m. (Collection)
October 12, 1-5 p.m. (Collection)
October 16, 1-5 p.m. (Collection Rain Date)
October 18, 6-8 p.m. (Identification)
Visit www.eatoncd.org/stream-monitoring to register! Contact Val Reisen at val.reisen@macd.org or 517-588-6302 with any questions.
This program is funded through a MiCorps Stream Monitoring Implementation Grant. MiCorps is administered for EGLE by Michigan State University, in partnership with the Michigan Lakes and Streams Association and Huron River Watershed Council.
