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ALLARM holds first virtual Stream Team data interpretation workshop

Posted on June 29, 2020

ALLARM held its first virtual Stream Team data interpretation workshop with monitors from York County on June 23. The York volunteers hold a special place in our hearts as the pilot Stream Team group trained in late 2018. These monitors have been collecting monthly water quality data for 18 months (with a pause at some […]

Benthic macroinvertebrate expert, Dan Boward, retires

Posted on June 29, 2020

The CMC Team is very sad to say goodbye to our friend and colleague, Dan Boward, who is retiring from Maryland Department of Natural Resources after a 34-year career in stream monitoring. Dan worked for the state of Maryland on surface water and benthic macroinvertebrate monitoring. Highlights of his career include: editing the 1999 book, […]

Hack The Bay is analyzing CMC data!

Posted on May 29, 2020

While CMC staff works to help groups with monitoring or uploading data, they have also been working on data use and analysis. One such partnership is with Booz Allen Hamilton on a hack-a-thon to dive deep into the CMC’s 230,000+ data points to learn more about water quality across the whole watershed and what our […]

Communicating Science Effectively Webinar

Posted on May 28, 2020

One of the CMC’s goals is to help interpret and communicate data throughout the watershed. Therefore, Caroline Donovan presented the Izaak Walton League’s Clean Water Webinar on Wednesday, May 27th. The webinar provided a summary of science communication techniques. Also, it included tips for effective PowerPoint presentations, data visualizations, and stakeholder workshops. Did you know […]

Read the Latest Tributary Report Cards!

Posted on May 1, 2020

Each spring locally relevant, volunteer-based report cards are released around the Chesapeake. These report cards are digitally available, meaning you can find out how your local stream or watershed is doing right from your own home. Follow the links below to see if there’s a new report card for your region of the watershed! BlueWater […]

Staying Connected During Virtual Times

Posted on May 1, 2020

As we all adapt to a new normal, staying connected is vitally important as in-person activities are paused. Like so many organizations, ALLARM had to cancel and postpone many events as a result of COVID-19. But every challenge presents an opportunity to try something new, like transitioning to virtual meeting and training spaces. There were […]

CMC Publishes New Microsoft Excel (TM) Macro Tools for Better Data Explorer Analysis

Posted on May 1, 2020

The CMC Team is excited to announce a few updates to the bulk data upload process to the Chesapeake Data Explorer that will hopefully ease data translation headaches! First, we have an updated bulk upload template, which moves the comments field, previously found in Column L, to an additional row for a sampling event. This comments field […]

James Beckley, Friend of the CMC, Steps Down as VA DEQ Citizen Monitoring Coordinator

Posted on May 1, 2020

The CMC Team was very sad to say goodbye to our long time friend and supporter, James Beckley, in April, as he left his position at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for a position at the water treatment lab in Chesterfield County. James worked at VA DEQ as the citizen monitoring coordinator for 16 […]

Chesapeake Data Explorer Hits a New Milestone!

Posted on April 2, 2020

We are excited to announce that the Chesapeake Data Explorer has reached over 200,000 data points! If you haven’t done so recently, check out the Data Explorer homepage to see what your fellow monitors have been up to.

Send in Your Submissions for the 2020 Chesapeake Watershed Forum!

Posted on April 2, 2020

The 2020 Chesapeake Watershed Forum Planning Committee is now accepting submissions for both classroom sessions and intensive seminars for the 15th Annual Chesapeake Watershed Forum on October 30-November 1, 2020. They are seeking proposals that highlight approaches and policies that enhance the resiliency of our lands, water, and communities to withstand the adverse impacts of climate […]

Cumberland Stream Team Data Meeting

Posted on March 2, 2020

Volunteers from ALLARM’s Cumberland Stream Team, who are sampling 20 sites throughout Cumberland County, PA, met on February 18 at Dickinson College to check in and learn how to upload their data into the Chesapeake Data Explorer. Volunteers also submitted their second quality control samples, which ALLARM staff tested and confirmed that all participants passed […]

CMC Members Meet with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance for Report Card Workshop

Posted on March 2, 2020

Just before February came to a close, CMC team members Caroline Donovan and Nathan Miller met with Rivanna Conservation Alliance staff members Julia Ela and Rachel Pence in Charlottesville, VA for a report card workshop. With approximately 50 monitoring stations and many years of data, the creation of highly engaging and data-driven communications products are […]

CMC Collaborates with Booz Allen on Data Analysis Design-o-thon

Posted on March 2, 2020

On February 12th the CMC team participated in a Design-o-thon for data analysis in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton’s 901 Green Office Team and Women in Data Science. The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative (CMC) has been working with the Booz Allen team to identify 4 key challenges that relate data collected through the Chesapeake Data Explorer […]

St. Mary’s River Monitors Becomes a Tier 2 Cooperative

Posted on February 3, 2020

We are excited to announce a new monitoring program starting in 2020 on the St. Mary’s River in Maryland! Last week the St. Mary’s River Monitoring Cooperative became Tier 2 certified to measure secchi depth and depth profiles for water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. There have been significant changes in the river in recent years, […]

CMC Partners Reunite for In-Person Meeting at Izaak Walton League

Posted on February 3, 2020

The CMC partners met in full force earlier in January for a strong meeting which reflected on past progress and faced future goals. All of the partner organizations were well represented. We met in the middle of the watershed at the Izaak Walton League office in Gaithersburg, and enjoyed good home-cooked food and a lovely […]

Upcoming Water Monitoring Classes with the Audubon Naturalist Society

Posted on January 23, 2020

For more than 25 years, the Audubon Naturalist Society has been teaching the natural history of aquatic ecology and training volunteer stream monitors to track the health of our region’s streams. Learn from the experts: study stream science in our introductory classes, and you just might be inspired to become a stream monitor yourself! Our advanced classes […]

Become a Salt-Watcher this Winter!

Posted on January 8, 2020

Winter is picking up steam, and with more snow comes more salt application! Excessive salt and other de-icers applied to roads, parking lots, and sidewalks this time of year can pose a threat to aquatic life and water quality when runoff flows into streams and storm drains. Through the Izaak Walton League’s Winter Salt Watch campaign, stream […]

Alliance Hosts Recertification Training for Caledon RiverTrends

Posted on December 4, 2019

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay hosted a dual certification/recertification training in late November for volunteer monitors of the Caledon State Park RiverTrends group. Based in Virginia, this corps of volunteer monitors collect monthly water quality data for the Caledon State Park. During the training, Liz Chudoba, Water Quality Program Director for the Alliance, reviewed […]

Renewed and New Connections

Posted on December 3, 2019

Throughout the fall months, the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring has been exploring relationships with new colleagues. We’ve also been dusting off the rolodex to reconnect with water partners throughout the Susquehanna and Potomac River watersheds. The ALLARM team loved running two sessions at the PA Conservation Districts Watershed Specialist conference. At the conference, ALLARM […]

The 2019 Virginia Citizens for Water Quality Summit

Posted on October 30, 2019

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay hosted the 2019 Virginia Citizens for Water Quality Summit on October 19th, in Ashland, VA as a Forum Plus event. The summit’s theme was More Money, More Monitoring and focused on creating diverse partnerships in order to expand monitoring efforts throughout the Commonwealth. With 40 people in attendance, the Summit […]

York Stream Team Macroinvertebrate Workshop is a Success!

Posted on October 30, 2019

ALLARM had a fantastic time with its York Stream Teams and the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper learning how to monitor macroinvertebrates on October 26. These Stream Teams have been collecting monthly baseline chemical data for almost a year and were excited to add a biological component to their skillsets. We practiced sampling on Tyler Run, which […]

Upper Susquehanna Watershed Forum

Posted on October 30, 2019

The Upper Susquehanna Watershed Forum took place on October 1 at SUNY Binghamton. It was a successful regional event, hosted by the Upper Susquehanna Coalition and Otsego County Conservation Association. ALLARM presented CMC updates and volunteer monitoring resources that we can provide in the upper Susquehanna. It was great to present the Chesapeake Data Explorer […]

West Virginians Get Engaged in Water Quality Monitoring

Posted on October 30, 2019

Earlier this month, the CMC went to Harpers Ferry to talk to folks about initiating their own water quality monitoring program. We were part of a water symposium that focused on groundwater, the future climate of the local watershed, and water quality. The hosts, the Rural Agricultural Defenders of West Virginia, are a grassroots organization […]

Thomas Jefferson High School Students trained as Biological Monitors

Posted on September 26, 2019

This September, Izaak Walton League staff trained 80 freshmen at Thomas Jefferson High School in biological monitoring. The students are going to be monitoring 20 different Fairfax county stream sites as part of a year-long project on water quality and stream health. There was a great coordinated effort with staff from Reston Association, Trout Unlimited, […]

CMC Model Being Explored Abroad!

Posted on September 26, 2019

Earlier this summer the CMC was contacted by a group in the United Kingdom, UK Rivers Trust, who is interested in using the CMC model to create a national monitoring hub in the UK. The goal is to create a system that combines many sources of citizen science data, in order to track the health […]

C-M-C u at the Chesapeake Watershed Forum (Registration Open)!!!

Posted on September 26, 2019

Registration for the 14 th Chesapeake Watershed Forum is now open! Friday night spots have already filled up; so make sure you register ASAP. We are excited that water quality monitoring is a priority topic and there will be several monitoring talks going on throughout the weekend. Need Data? The CMC can help! (Friday, 5:00-5:45) – […]

Benthic Monitoring Season is Coming!

Posted on September 3, 2019

It’s that time of year! It’s getting cooler, kids are going back to school… and volunteers like you are getting ready to go monitor their sites for benthic macroinvertebrates! September and October are ideal for fall benthic monitoring. For experienced monitors, it’s time to pull out the monitoring kits, check waders, and coordinate with monitoring […]

Spotlight on Otsego County Conservation Association: Celebrating the Second Monitoring Anniversary!

Posted on September 3, 2019

Otsego County Conservation Association is celebrating its second monitoring anniversary! Volunteers in the Cooperstown, New York area have been monitoring nine sites up in the headwaters of the Susquehanna River since September 2017. OCCA represents the first partnership for the CMC in New York. They are proud to be going into their third year of […]

Stream Monitors Attend August VASOS Training

Posted on September 3, 2019

Over twenty current and future stream monitors attended a VA SOS training program in Manassas Battlefield Park on August 10! Co-hosted by the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District and the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, attendees learned about urban hydrology, water quality issues, and benthic macroinvertebrates. Current monitors learned about chemical […]

Summarizing CBP Data on the Coverage of Chesapeake Monitoring

Posted on September 3, 2019

Dia Brown was a 2-month summer intern from the University of Vermont, working with the USEPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office and supported through the Chesapeake Research Consortium’s C-StREAM Program (Chesapeake Student Recruitment, Early Advisement and Mentoring). As part of her summer intern experience, Dia worked on exploring, characterizing and visualizing data available in the CMC’s […]

Columbia County Stream Team Training

Posted on July 30, 2019

ALLARM’s Stream Team monitoring program is moving up the Susquehanna River! We trained new volunteers in Columbia County, PA, in the middle Susquehanna region on July 15. ALLARM summer watershed coordinators led demonstrations and taught small groups the monitoring techniques along with Julie Vastine and Helen Schlimm. The new teams identified seven sites in the […]

Behind the Scenes with the CMC!

Posted on July 30, 2019

At the end of June, the CMC project team got together in Carlisle, PA to dive deep into the technical details of our Cooperative, plan for the future, and visit our friends at ALLARM. While the CMC team regularly keeps in touch, we only get to meet in person a few times a year. This […]

CMC at the Chesapeake Bay Program Communications Workgroup bi-annual retreat

Posted on July 30, 2019

Twice a year, the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Communication Workgroup, of which the CMC is a member, gets together to review a specific topic of keen interest to all its participants. This July, the workgroup’s bi-annual retreat focused on how to improve climate change communication with policy makers, resource managers and constituents in the Chesapeake watershed. […]

CMC Hosts Workshop for Head of the Bay Alliance

Posted on June 28, 2019

The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative team hosted a study design workshop for the Head of the Bay Alliance on June 13th in Havre de Grace, Maryland. The Head of the Bay Alliance is an alliance of independent watershed and environmental organizations fostering collaboration and mutual support to protect the natural resources of the Upper Chesapeake Bay […]

CMC Presents at Inaugural Chesapeake Studies Conference

Posted on June 28, 2019

The CMC was excited to participate in the inaugural gathering of the Chesapeake Studies Conference, the first of what planners hope becomes an annual opportunity for institutions and researchers to discuss the unique ecology, history, and environmental challenges of the Chesapeake watershed. Nathan Miller, an IAN-UMCES Science Communicator and CMC team member, presented during a […]

IWLA Certifies New Monitors in Fredericksburg, VA

Posted on June 28, 2019

Last month IWLA staff got to work with volunteers from around the Fredericksburg area in Virginia eager to become certified biological monitors. Volunteers from the IWLA Fredericksburg-Rappahannock chapter, Green Aquia, and local Virginia Master Naturalists all came out on a beautiful day to learn about water quality issues, the importance of monitoring benthic macroinvertebrates, and […]

York Stream Team QC Check In and Database Training

Posted on June 28, 2019

ALLARM checked in with its Stream Team volunteers in York County on Monday, June 17th and trained everyone to upload their monitoring data into the Chesapeake Data Explorer. All the stream sites were represented, and everyone brought their second quality control samples and shared updates from the past five months of monitoring. Then the teams […]

Virginia Citizens for Water Quality Summit is Coming this October!

Posted on June 28, 2019

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay will be hosting the Virginia Citizens for Water Quality Summit on October 19th, 2019 in Ashland, VA. The theme this year is more money, more monitoring, with a goal of providing monitoring groups and individual monitors with diverse resources and partnership opportunities to increase or sustain monitoring programs. Registration […]

#OneChesapeake: This Week is Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week!

Posted on June 3, 2019

The Chesapeake Bay Program’s 4th Annual Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week (June 1 – 9) is upon us! Visit the CBP’s events page to find an event near you! Per the CBP press release: “The fourth annual Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week will take place June 1-9, 2019. While this week has been officially designated in Maryland, […]

ALLARM is launching Stream Team in Cumberland County, PA!

Posted on June 3, 2019

ALLARM teamed up with the Middle and Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Associations in 2018 to launch a new monitoring initiative called Susquehanna Stream Team, funded by the Campbell Foundation. This program engages water quality monitoring efforts among volunteers in Pennsylvania and New York. Volunteers will specifically be monitoring the Susquehanna tributaries to address local inquiries and […]

Data Explorer nominated for RVA Tech Gala Award

Posted on May 31, 2019

The CMC is proud to announce that the Chesapeake Data Explorer was nominated for the Innovation in Community award at the RVA Tech Gala this year! The Gala was held in Richmond, VA and celebrates the breakthroughs, advancements, and outstanding technologists who are driving Richmond’s technology-based economy. Though the Data Explorer did not win, we […]

D.C. Bacteria Monitoring

Posted on May 4, 2019

The Anacostia Riverkeeper has partnered with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (CMC), Audubon Naturalists Society, Potomac Riverkeeper Network, and Rock Creek Conservancy through a grant from the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) to start a bacteria monitoring program in Washington, D.C. The purpose of this project is to to make E.coli data […]

CMC teams up with DataKind volunteers to make data tools

Posted on May 4, 2019

On Saturday April 27th, the CMC held a training for volunteers eager to provide their time and skills…on dry land! CMC staff, Peter Tango and Emily Bialowas, participated in a weekend long Data Dive with DataKind volunteers, who help non-profit citizen science initiatives with their data needs. The CMC spent the day with DataKind volunteers […]

C-M-C u at the Chesapeake Watershed Forum in November!

Posted on May 4, 2019

The CMC is excited to see that the request for proposals for presentations at the 14th Chesapeake Watershed Forum is open and water quality monitoring is a priority topic! This year’s theme Better Together: Diverse and Innovative Collaborations for the Chesapeake Watershed, encourages presenters to share not only monitoring tools and techniques, but also community […]

CMC Discusses Bay Restoration and Citizen Science at Planning Association Workshop

Posted on May 4, 2019

During a lightning round of talks at a recent workshop for the Maryland chapter of the American Planning Association, Nathan Miller, an IAN-UMCES Science Communicator and CMC Team member, spoke with attendees and stakeholders about CMC’s mission to monitor water quality and benthic biodiversity throughout the Chesapeake Bay. Despite its brevity, the five-minute talk emphasized […]

CMC highlights Chesapeake health to Virginia’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts

Posted on April 8, 2019

Last week, we got to share the work we do with Soil and Water Conservation Districts and their staff from across northern and central Virginia. Emily Bialowas, our CMC coordinator at the Izaak Walton League, was asked to speak along with staff from Virginia’s Dept. of Conservation and Recreation and Dept. of Game and Inland […]

CMC data makes a splash at the 2019 National Water Quality Monitoring Conference

Posted on April 8, 2019

The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative was well represented at the National Water Quality Monitoring Conference in Denver at the end of March. Several members of the team attended the conference and shared CMC progress and resources through a variety of presentations. Peter Tango, Emily Bialowas, Helen Schlimm, and Caroline Donovan presented a champion session which covered […]

CMC attends the Citizen Science Association’s Conference in Raleigh

Posted on April 8, 2019

The CMC was well represented at the biennial Citizen Science Association conference in Raleigh, NC in March. Emily Bialowas and Peter Tango presented on various aspects of the CMC in sessions about Monitoring Data and Data Quality Management. Caroline Donovan presented a lunchtime roundtable discussion that highlighted the CMC as an example of a successful regional partnership. […]

CALL FOR DATA: Maryland 2020 Integrated Report of Surface Water Quality

Posted on April 8, 2019

The CMC is excited to announce that the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) will be using the Chesapeake Data Explorer for their 2019 data solicitation! This data will be used in the 2020 Integrated Report of Surface Water Quality, which provides information on both impaired and non-impaired waters within the State of Maryland. If […]

April 13th is Citizen Science Day!

Posted on April 8, 2019

The Citizen Science Association’s 4th annual Citizen Science Day kicks off on April 13th with events planned around the country to highlight the remarkable contributions communities and individual citizens make to scientific exploration everyday. Visit SciStarter.org/events to see if there’s an event near you. There’s also still time to set up your own Citizen Science Day event. Visit the […]

MDE Shellfish is our newest Tier 3 group!

Posted on February 27, 2019

The CMC is excited to announce the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Shellfish monitoring program has been approved as Tier 3 for their 2019 monitoring season! Maryland’s bacteriological monitoring of shellfish growing waters started in the early 1970’s and it has grown to over 700 stations throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. All stations […]

Data Interpretation Workshops

Posted on February 25, 2019

The CMC trained approximately 20 people in Data Interpretation and Science Communication in February. The free 2-day workshop is part of the CMC’s training services and include hands-on, immersive training in data interpretation, conceptualization, storytelling, and design and layout. One workshop was hosted at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality‘s office in Richmond, VA and the other was […]

The CMC has a new website!

Posted on January 14, 2019

The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative (CMC) is starting 2019 off fresh with a brand new website (chesapeakemonitoringcoop.org)! This website provides a platform to share CMC services and resources that have been developed over the past three years and are freely available. The CMC brings together a diverse group of people who monitor water quality to provide […]

Check out the newly available Chesapeake Data Explorer!

Posted on December 12, 2018

The CMC is pleased to announce the Chesapeake Data Explorer is now publicly available to view and download monitoring data! This portal allows anyone to view, access, and download published monitoring data in the Data Explorer. We are continuing to add water quality data, monitoring groups, and site locations into the system. Continue to check the website to keep […]

Memorandum of Understanding is passed to advance citizen water monitoring effectiveness!

Posted on November 1, 2018

Over the last year, the CMC has been working with the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership on an unprecedented Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This MOU aims to forge a deeper understanding of and commitment to using non-traditional water quality and benthic data in various ways. We are pleased to announce that the MOU was formally accepted by […]

ALLARM teams up with partners to launch stream volunteer monitoring program

Posted on November 1, 2018

On October 25th, ALLARM teamed up with students and faculty at York College of Pennsylvania and the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper to launch ALLARM’s Susquehanna Stream Team volunteer monitoring program. This new initiative of ALLARM aims to engage volunteers to collect scientific data of known quality that can inform local approaches to achieving improved watershed health […]

New CMC Sessions at the Watershed Forum!

Posted on November 1, 2018

There are several sessions where you can connect with the CMC. Each session includes fun, hands-on activities related to monitoring local streams. We hope you can make it to at least one of our sessions! The CMC sessions are: 1:30 Friday afternoon – Taste of the CMC (Session A) 3:30 Friday afternoon – Data Interpretation […]

Upcoming Events

Online Save Our Streams certification program

Virtual

Izaak Walton League of America

The Izaak Walton League is thrilled to offer the opportunity for you to start the certification process from home. Start with training videos and online registration. Finish with in-person field work and a protocol exam.

Training Information >>

Hack the Bay

Virtual

As part of Booz Allen’s Earth Day 2020 celebration, Booz Allen Hamilton’s 901 Green Office Team and Women in Data Science are partnering with the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative to host Hack the Bay, a series of data-focused events. We invite data scientists, developers, designers, problem solvers, and storytellers to explore CMC’s data and create solutions to address some of their core challenges. The Hackathon will open at 12:00pm ET (noon) on Monday, August 3. Complete entries should be submitted by 11:59pm ET on September 14th.

Registration >>

Aug 18

Hack the Bay – Environmental Justice Panel

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Virtual

The intersection of social inequality, economics, and the environment are integral considerations to better understand the unequal societal burdens of pollution, climate change, and land development. Knowledge of these issues will ultimately lead to the design of solutions that will improve the lives of all people. This panel will discuss how to evaluate data, environmental stewardship, and Bay restoration through the lenses of equity and justice.

Registration >>

Aug 29

RiverTrends Recertification Webinar

10:00 am - 11:30 am

Virtual

RiverTrends Monitors

The Alliance is offering virtual recertification trainings to all certified RiverTrends monitors. This is a two part process, including this online webinar and a follow up quiz.

Training Information >>

Sep 3

RiverTrends Recertification Webinar

10:00 am - 11:30 am

Virtual

RiverTrends Monitors

The Alliance is offering virtual recertification trainings to all certified RiverTrends monitors. This is a two part process, including this online webinar and a follow up quiz.

Training Information >>

Sep 15

RiverTrends Recertification Webinar

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Virtual

RiverTrends Monitors

The Alliance is offering virtual recertification trainings to all certified RiverTrends monitors. This is a two part process, including this online webinar and a follow up quiz.

Training Information >>

Sep 21

Virginia Water Monitoring Council Conference

9:30 am - 11:30 am

Virtual

The Virginia Water Monitoring Council is hosting the annual conference virtually on September 21st and 22nd, from 9:30-11:30am each day.

Registration >>

Sep 29

Hack the Bay – Winner Presentation

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Virtual

Learn about the winning solutions in each of the four challenges for Hack the Bay. These challenges include: (1) developing a restoration case study to tell a story about how water quality has changed over time, (2) identifying data gaps using GIS, (3) modeling water pollution with machine learning, and/or (4) understanding how water quality ties to the communities living in the watershed.

Registration >>