Stream of Consciousness Volume 49 Article 1 2017 Stream of Consciousness (2017) Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.dickinson.edu/stream_of_consciousness Part of the Environmental Monitoring Commons, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons Recommended Citation Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM). Stream of Consciousness 49 (2017) . Available at: https://scholar.dickinson.edu/stream_of_consciousness/vol49/iss1/1 Stream of Consciousness is a publication of the Alliance for Aquatic Resources Monitoring (ALLARM) at Dickinson College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring’s Annual Publication Stream of Consciousness 2017 dickinson.edu/allarm [email protected] @allarmwater The publication Stream of Consciousness is made possible by the generous support of the Charles Merrill Kurtz Fund, which was established by Betty Puzak in memory of her father, Charles M. Kurtz, Dickinson Class of 1907. Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring © 2018 Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring. Stream of Conciousness is licensed under the Creative Com- mons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Interna- tional license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ If you would like to use this content in other ways, please contact us. All pictures are property of ALLARM unless otherwise noted. Contents Volunteer Monitoring Motivations By: Natalie McNeill 4 Chesapeake Bay Policy: 34 Years and Counting By: Helen Schlimm 7 Exploring the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative By: Abby Kaija 10 ALLARM’s Connection to Social Justice: 12 Educating and Engaging By: Hayat Rasul Stormwater Regulation in Carlisle By: Tom O’Donnell 14 ALLARM’s Largest Lab Comparability Study By: Allison Curley 16 What’s the Buzz on Water Bugs and Limestone Streams? By: Nick Long 17 Assessment of Pennsylvania’s Watershed Field By: Claire Jordy 19 Living in a DIY World: Advancing Do-It-Yourself Automatic 22 Data-logging Technology through MayFly DIY By: Jake Beley How “Green” Is Your Lawn? By: Olivia Boggiano-Peterson 24 Riparian Buffers and Invasive Species By: Cheyenne Moore 26 Reflecting on the Stream Restoration ProjectBy: Caroline Kanaskie 28 ALLARM’s Shale Gas Database By: Yueli Liang 30 Getting to Know the Big Spring Watershed Association By: Ellen Bair 32 LeTort Monitoring: An In-Depth Look By: Xinyi Wu 33 The Wave of Community Action By: Juliet Risko 35 Senior Reflections 37 ALLARM in Pictures 42 Top: Yueli Liang ‘18 (left), Allison Curley ‘19, and Natalie McNeill ‘17 conducting a shale gas workshop in Westmoreland County. Bottom: Left to right: Corry Stream Team (CST) monitor recording his fellow monitors’ results; CST volunteers monitoring conductivity and recording their results; Juliet Risko ‘19 (left) and Natalie McNeill ‘17 helping volunteers identify macroinvertebrates. Volunteer Monitoring Motivations By: Natalie McNeill recent study conducted by the Environmental Protection (EPA, 2016b). Overall, the Pennsylvania report “highlights the value Agency (EPA) examined the contamination of drinking of site-specific background data” and that we are “hampered by Awater by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in Northeastern knowledge gaps such as a lack of baseline data” (Hurdle, 2015). and Southwestern Pennsylvania, as well as Raton Basin, Colorado, Aquatic citizen scientists, or volunteer monitors, can help Killdeer, North Dakota, and Wise County, Texas (EPA, 2016a). In fill in these baseline data gaps because they contribute usable data Northeastern PA, the EPA found that nine of the 36 drinking water to local communities, states, and/or scientists (Miller-Rushing et al., wells studied had traces of methane and ethane, which may have 2012). Management agencies may use their data to identify which migrated from fracking activity areas. The study also found that there waterbodies to prioritize for cleanup or management efforts (Miller- were elevated chloride levels in a pond that was adjacent to a well Rushing et al., 2012). In many cases, volunteers collect data before, pad. The pond was not a source of drinking water, but it is still proof during, and after drilling occurs, which helps them understand if of fracking contamination and could have other detrimental effects their local waterways are being contaminated or negatively impacted (EPA, 2016b). In Southwestern PA, there were increased levels of by fracking. chloride in groundwater near a site used to store drilling wastewater It is clear that aquatic citizen scientists are important 4 Stream of Consciousness environmental watchdogs and that their data are a valuable assets. • Recreational centers The key to having a successful monitoring program is the effective • Community centers recruitment and retention of volunteers who contribute to long- • Post offices term data sets. There is plenty of research about volunteer groups • Doctors’ offices in general, with some about citizen science groups, which found that • Libraries (Community Tool Box, 2016). people volunteer because they want to: • Educational sessions and meetings 1. Contribute to their communities • Website advertisements 2. Make social connections • Coordinating with schools (US Department of Health and Human 3. Interact with diverse organizations Services, 2005). 4. Protect the environment While these are all important ways to recruit volunteers, 5. Enjoy nature, and for retention is even more important because it is time-intensive to find 6. Altruistic and nostalgic reasons (Roggenbuck et al., 2001, Khoo and train new monitors. Therefore, it is important to keep as many et al., 2011, Haivas et al., 2012, Alender, 2016, Ruseva et al., volunteers interested as possible. Through my research, I found 2016). that follow-up emails and meetings, stressing the importance of Numerous studies show us that volunteers’ motivations are baseline data, having a volunteer coordinator, showing volunteers closely linked to recruitment and retention. If volunteer activities their data and the uses of the data, and having a database to house address volunteers’ interests and motivations, they are more likely the data are characteristic of successful monitoring programs. to continue with the program (Clary et al., 1998, Khoo et al., 2011, Other research that specifically focused on Virginia Save Our Haivas et al., 2012, Imizcoz et al., 2013, Alender, 2016). Streams (SOS) volunteers found that they appreciated having For my senior thesis, I interviewed aquatic citizen annual meetings, being recognized for their contributions, having a scientists about why they start and what motivates them to volunteer coordinator, and increasing the use of citizen data by state continue voluntarily monitoring their local waterways. In many of regulatory and protection agencies. Another interesting finding was the interviews, volunteers talked about how they heard about the that volunteers enjoyed when SOS invited guest speakers to discuss monitoring programs that they participate in. The most commonly water and environmental quality and when there were field spot- mentioned recruitment strategies were word of mouth, newspaper checks to assure proper data collection (Roggenbuck et al., 2001). advertisements, and festivals/events. Other research backs up my A study of Alabama Water Watch (AWW) volunteers found findings, suggesting these recruitment strategies: that large, successful programs were typically coordinated through • Radio, newspaper, and newsletter announcements universities, extension systems, governmental agencies, and/or • Bulletins nonprofit organizations. Groups with these connections tended to • Specifically posted at: outlast those without them. The strongest programs also consisted of • Laundromats retirees who were deeply interested in water quality. The researchers • Grocery stores found, however, that it was important to try to recruit younger • High schools volunteers through the development of curriculum for classrooms, • Universities with the hope that students would grow up and monitor as adults. • Places of worship AWW also developed the program in hopes that it would get young Volunteers choose their shale gas monitoring sites. 2017 5 people outside and help to reverse the trend of decreased desire • Showing volunteers how their data are used to volunteer in the United States (Deutsch & Cordova, 2015). The • Sending thank-you notes program also ensures that its training activities are hands-on, mostly • Giving participants a certificate outdoors, and highly interactive in order to keep people interested • Publishing data in the local newspaper (Deutsch & Cordova, 2015). • Giving out awards The study found that overall, in order to maintain long- • Overall making sure volunteers know they are valued (Packer & term viability of a program, these are aspects of successful retention Hewett, 2003). strategies: While conducting my research, I found that most volunteers • Attention to volunteers thought that recognition was important but that it definitely was not • Collection of credible data a reason why they decided to monitor or to continue; volunteers • Having an online database seem to be intrinsically motivated. This intrinsic motivation, however, • Having trainers and workshops stems from extrinsic factors that pushed them toward wanting to get • Forming nongovernmental partnerships (Deutsch & Cordova, involved in a monitoring program. In other words, volunteers would 2015). not have monitored their