In 2014, the Miistakis Institute hosted a Citizen Science Conference, exploring this diverse field with sessions on program design, evaluation, policy implications, technology and applications in parks and protected areas. This links to the website that chronicled that event.
Julie Vastine
Creating Credible Community-Based Stream Monitoring Programs
Speaker Bio:Julie Vastine is the director of the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She is responsible for leadership of the ALLARM program and providing technical assistance to communities interested in using science as a tool for change in Pennsylvania and New York. Julie has worked in the volunteer monitoring/citizen science field for fifteen years. In 2014, she was appointed to the National Water Quality Monitoring Council as the co-volunteer monitoring chair. In 2018, she was elected to the Citizen Science Association. In addition to working with communities, Julie enjoys hiking, biking, cooking, and yoga.
Presentation: Creating Credible Community-based Stream Monitoring Programs
How can we maximize limited budget dollars at the local, state, regional, and national levels so that the necessary measures are being taken today that do not compromise the integrity of our natural resources in the future? In the United States, with budget restraints it has become increasingly difficult at the state level to monitor and assess state waterways, as a result, more attention has been focused on community-based data collection opportunities. The goal of most volunteer stream monitoring programs is to ensure that well-trained volunteers collect data of known quality. Despite decades of demonstrating that volunteers can and do collect representative data, government agencies, scientists and often the general public are sometimes reluctant to use data not collected by “experts”. Therefore, volunteer water quality monitoring programs must build and maintain credibility. There are a number of tools that facilitate building data credibility in the United States. This presentation will highlight a regional monitoring initiative and the tools used to verify that volunteers are collecting data of known quality.