FEATURING "BLENDED" VIRTUAL AND FIELD TRAINING SESSIONS

Join us for an intensive multi-day Stream School workshop to prepare yourself for volunteer water quality monitoring work in New Jersey! After a virtual introduction to stream and watershed ecology, participants will go streamside to learn techniques for visual habitat assessments, physical monitoring, and benthic macroinvertebrate sampling. Benthic macroinvertebrates, or small organisms like insect larvae, crustaceans, and mollusks that live in streams, are used as biological indicators of stream health and we will get to know these critters very well! Participants will be trained in macroinvertebrate identification to the order and family taxonomic level.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:

• Wed, 4/7, 6:30-8:30pm: Intro to Biological Assessments and Macroinvertebrate Identification (Virtual)
• Thu, 4/8, 6:30-8:30pm: Intro to Visual/Habitat High Gradient Assessments (Virtual)
• Fri, 4/9, 6:30-7:30pm: Intro to Field Experience and Prep for In-Person Stream Day (Virtual)
• Sun, 4/11, 9:30am-4:30pm: Stream Assessment Training in the Field (Rahway River Park, NJ)

Participants have the option to join this workshop in two ways:

• Full Stream School workshop, including all three webinars plus a full-day stream assessment training IN PERSON on Sun, 4/11, OR
• Virtual-Only programming on Wed, 4/7 and Thu, 4/8.

You will be prompted to make your training selection during registration.

Program Notes:

• All participants will receive webinar links via email prior to training.
• Meeting location will be shared with full Stream School attendees via email prior to training.
• Field participants should bring a lunch AND a pair of stream shoes, old sneakers, knee boots, or waders for stream work. We are unable to loan out waders due to the pandemic.
• Any children under the age of 18 must attend with a parent or guardian. No children under the age of 16 are permitted.
• To become eligible for regulatory data collection, each volunteer must attend the field portion of the training, pass a field audit, and pass a macroinvertebrate ID test to be administered on April 17 or 18.

Event co-sponsored by the New Jersey Watershed Watch Network, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and Rahway River Watershed Association.