Volunteer News

Join Our Team
The Volunteer Monitoring Program is seeking a field intern to support its monitoring efforts. The position will run from October 2008 through June 2008 and will involve supporting monitoring efforts varying from water quality to stormwater monitoring to laboratory analysis. For more details, see the full job description. Applications are being accepted through September 5. 

Spring 2007 Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Data Now Available
Each spring, volunteers venture into local creeks to collect macroinvertebrates. The survival of these freshwater invertebrates is directly impacted by the long-term condition of water quality in the creek. In a healthy stream, a diverse stream-bottom community will be present, including pollution sensitive types. In an impacted stream, there may be only a few types of pollution tolerant macroinvertebrates. Volunteer-collected samples are sent to a laboratory for sorting, identification and counting. A data summary of monitoring conducted in spring 2007 is now available.

Seeking Phytoplankton Volunteers
We are seeking volunteers to conduct monthly phytoplankton pulls at bay and ocean sites. Each monitoring event requires approximately two hours each month. Volunteers use a net to capture phytoplankton and then return to the office with their sample to conduct basic plankton identification under the microscope. Contact program staff to learn more.