U.S. EPA & Volunteer Monitoring (VM) Workgroup Webcast Series

Leveraging Participatory Science to Advance Water Quality Reporting and Partnership-Building

This event is hosted by the EPA and Volunteer Monitoring Workgroup. Please direct questions to the EPA Watershed Academy.

More information and registration

Join a two-part series on participatory science hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Watershed Academy in partnership the National Water Quality Monitoring Council’s Volunteer Monitoring Workgroup. The Volunteer Monitoring Workgroup was developed in 2016 to encourage integration of volunteer monitoring activities with ongoing water-quality monitoring conducted by local, state, and federal agencies.

This two-part 2024 webcast series will explore diverse projects that engage members of the public in aquaticbased data collection projects. Speakers during both webcasts will showcase their participatory science projects highlighting how volunteers are engaged, tools and resources that facilitate program success, and how data are used in diverse ways. The first webcast will showcase diverse water quality programs, while the second will highlight coastal programs emphasizing the role of partnerships and program impact. Additional EPA resources to support participatory science can be found here.

Part 1: May 23, 2024, from 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern

• Julie Vastine, Director, Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) & Chair of National Water
  Quality Monitoring Council’s Volunteer Monitoring Workgroup
• Hilary Snook, Environmental Scientist, USEPA New England Regional laboratory
• Petra Baldwin, Water Quality Coordinator, Anacostia Riverkeeper
• Mona Dominguez, Director, Alabama Water Watch (AWW)
• April Sevy, Volunteer Education and Citizen Science Coordinator, Missouri Stream Team

Part 2: July 11, 2024, from 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern

• Julie Vastine, Director, Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) & Chair of National Water
• Quality Monitoring Council’s Volunteer Monitoring Workgroup
• Dr. Julia Parrish, Associate Dean, College of the Environment, University of Washington
• Mara Dias, Water Quality Initiative Senior Manager, Surfrider Foundation
• Dr. Steve Morton, Research Oceanographer, NOAA NCCOS, Phytoplankton Monitoring Network