CRWA Teams Up With Earthwatch!

Hello everyone! My name is Meghan, and I’ve been interning with the CRWA since the end of August. I’d like to share with you what one of my main projects has been so far during my time here.

CRWA partners with a lot of different organizations and people in the watershed area in our goal to preserve and protect the Charles River. One such organization is called Earthwatch, Inc. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are an international non-profit group that sends volunteers all over the world to aid in scientific research. From their own webpage, their mission is to “engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education in order to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment”.

Anyway, we have been working with Earthwatch in the Boston area in order to provide corporations with what we call the “Scientist for a Day Program”. Essentially, we teach groups of 10-20 volunteers in the city to measure water quality parameters in the area. Specifically, we have been working with the Muddy River, a tributary to the Charles River located in the Emerald Necklace Park lands in Boston. My part in these events is to help lead the research segment, where we teach them to properly collect samples, use meters and testing strips, and then give the information necessary to make sense of their results. 

Here's the Muddy River during one of our events, on such a beautiful day!

These have been a lot of fun to work, and the groups of participants have shown a great interest in the topic! The events really provide a great way to get people involved in their communities and their watersheds, and to actually see how we use research and results to make sense of situations. We’ve also been able to inspire a lot of thought about how the corporations involved can work towards more sustainable and environmentally-friendly attitudes and operations. Overall, it’s been a great experience with a lot of education, not only for the participants but for me as well!

For those interested in learning more about the events, check out the page Earthwatch put online: http://www.earthwatch.org/newsandevents/pressreleases/news-6-earthwatch-launch-one-day-corporate-programs.html

But that’s all for now. Until next time!

Meghan