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DIY Table Modifications for Monitoring

Posted on May 4, 2022

Macroinvertebrate monitoring calls for patience, a keen eye for little critters, and depending on what table you’re using, a strong back! When spending a few hours bending over a table to sort, count, and identify macros, your back can start to feel the burn. Some Save Our Streams monitors have opted for short enough tables […]

Starting to Find the Story in Data

Posted on May 4, 2022

Behind every map and graph are countless data points and hours of data collection. When you add the time involved in compiling, formatting, and visualizing that data, the total effort towards a data summary can double. Therefore, in preparation for our largest data exploration experience to date, the entire ALLARM team got involved. There are […]

Green Aquia RiverTrends Recertification

Posted on May 4, 2022

Community members at Aquia Harbor in Virginia have been collecting water quality samples every month since 2013 at four sites to educate their neighbors about their local water quality! In April, 6 monitors were recertified under RiverTrends to continue their monitoring efforts. We had a great day in the field reviewing methods, learning how to […]

April Trainings Expand Save Our Streams Reach

Posted on May 4, 2022

In April the Izaak Walton League of America hosted three Save Our Streams trainings. The trainings were held to certify new benthic macroinvertebrate monitors in the rocky and muddy bottom collection protocols. The first two trainings were held in Richmond, Virginia and were cohosted by IWLA and Wild Virginia. 13 people attended and were able […]

New Monitors Join the Save Our Streams Network

Posted on April 5, 2022

The Izaak Walton League of America hosted three benthic macroinvertebrate trainings in March to certify new Save Our Streams monitors. The first training was attended by eight enthusiastic high school students who are members of their school’s Trout Out of the Classroom afterschool club in Vienna, VA. One student brought his own viewing tank and […]

RiverTrends Welcomes New High School Monitors in Virginia

Posted on April 5, 2022

Photo by Holly Jenkins On March 31, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay teamed up with RappFlow and Rappahannock County High School in the Northern Piedmont region of Virginia to offer a RiverTrends training to students and teachers at the school focused on bacteria monitoring. Eight students and two teachers attended the training session. Participants learned […]

Takes a Village – Collaborative Approach to Monitoring

Posted on April 5, 2022

From October 2018 through December 2021, ALLARM’s Stream Team program expanded to nine counties, 65 sites, and 120 volunteers. Integrated support systems and partnerships are vitally important to the success of the program. In fall 2021, when we chatted with the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper, John Zaktansky. It became clear that it would be good to […]

The CMC and Partners Participate in MD Streams Roundtable

Posted on April 5, 2022

After 2 years away, the Maryland Water Monitoring Council’s Streams Roundtable is back! On March 10th, the Council hosted a virtual gathering of state and county agencies, private contractors, and community organizations to share monitoring programs and plans in the state for 2022. With over 20 organizations sharing stream monitoring projects, the roundtable is always […]

The CMC Data Explorer is expanding in VA!

Posted on March 3, 2022

With the support of funding from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the CMC is developing a new Virginia-centric data portal to support community science driven water quality monitoring outside of the Chesapeake Bay watershed but within the state of Virginia. We are excited to work with our state and potential monitoring group partners to […]

DIY Inventions for Cost Savings in Monitoring

Posted on March 3, 2022

When it comes to water quality monitoring equipment, there can be some high-cost items. In some cases, there are cost effective “do-it-yourself” (DIY) approaches that do not affect the quality of data created. Measuring water levels in a stream provides a baseline flow profile that can track responses to precipitation and drought, and can assist […]

Using Community Science Data in Advocacy Efforts

Posted on March 3, 2022

On February 17th, the Izaak Walton League teamed up with Wild Virginia to host a webinar on water quality monitoring and how to use data in advocacy efforts. Kira Carney, the Mid-Atlantic Save Our Streams Coordinator for IWLA, presented on the benthic and chemical monitoring trainings offered by the CMC. She explained to the audience the […]

Chesapeake Data Explorer Exceeds 500,000 Water Quality Samples!

Posted on February 1, 2022

As we begin 2022, the Chesapeake Data Explorer now contains over 500,000 water quality samples collected from over 600 rivers and streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Reaching this milestone is a testament to the incredible community science efforts of over 100 water quality monitoring member organizations of the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative. As a reminder, […]

Navigate icy, snowy, and slippery conditions with confidence!

Posted on February 1, 2022

Winter is upon us! Wherever you are located in the watershed, you have already encountered winter’s joys while monitoring. Remember, safety is our number one priority. If you cannot access your site safely due to snow, ice, or slippery conditions, check in with your local coordinator about adjusting your sampling date. Additionally, if your site […]

Izaak Walton League Tackles 2021

Posted on January 12, 2022

2021 was an exciting year for stream monitoring with the Izaak Walton League of America. 2021 began in the middle of Winter Salt Watch’s third monitoring season with more volunteers than ever – over 2600 kits sent around the country! 15 monitoring groups and hundreds of individual monitors submitted 979 data points within the […]

Susquehanna Stream Team 2021 Recap

Posted on January 12, 2022

ALLARM’s Susquehanna Stream Team has grown since its inception three years ago with the goal to engage volunteers throughout the Susquehanna tributaries to collect scientific data of known quality that can inform local approaches to achieving improved watershed health. Since the first workshop in December 2018, ALLARM has partnered with the Lower and Middle […]

RiverTrends 2021 Year in Review

Posted on January 12, 2022

Despite Covid limitations, RiverTrends had a very successful 2021! We continued to adapt our training and recertification sessions into a hybrid format, allowing for outdoor, in-person training events as well as virtual sessions to meet the needs of all of our monitors. In Virginia, we led 17 training sessions, trained 30 new monitors, and […]

An Exciting Year for the CMC!

Posted on January 12, 2022

Despite ongoing challenges in 2021 with COVID and gathering/training restrictions the CMC continues to forge ahead! We had a very exciting year and are happy to share some of the highlights: The CMC team provided over 70 trainings sessions in 2021 – including study design workshops, water quality and benthic macroinvertebrate trainings, Data Explorer trainings, […]

Farewell, Caroline!

Posted on December 6, 2021

Photo Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeffrey Milisen This month, the CMC says a very fond farewell to program manager extraordinaire Caroline Donovan (UMCES IAN). Caroline has been with UMCES since 2006 and has worked on a plethora of projects. Her experience with report cards, science communication, stakeholder engagement, and citizen science is invaluable. Caroline helped start the […]

CMC Gets International Attention!

Posted on December 6, 2021

We are proud to announce that the CMC has been selected as a UNESCO Green Citizens project for 2020-2021! UNESCO Green Citizens is a global campaign to enhance local initiatives and highlight local environmental citizen-led projects on a global scale. This campaign was founded on the idea that changes in our relationship with the environment will […]

ALLARM Hosts Macroinvertebrate Webinar for Susquehanna Stream Team

Posted on December 6, 2021

As Stream Team volunteers continue to monitor monthly, ALLARM seeks to provide enriching educational opportunities and workshops. In preparation for in-person macroinvertebrate collection and identification workshops, we hosted a webinar focused on all things macroinvertebrates! This introductory webinar reviewed macroinvertebrate roles in the ecosystem, identification features, overview of the sampling process, and resources to explore […]

RiverTrends Welcomes New Monitors in Virginia

Posted on December 6, 2021

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is excited to welcome 8 new monitors to the RiverTrends Team in November! The Middle Peninsula Master Naturalists gathered on November 11th for an outdoor training in Hayes, Virginia, spending a beautiful day alongside the York River getting familiar with their monitoring equipment. On November 18th, we were also […]

RiverTrends Welcomes New Monitors with the James River Master Naturalists

Posted on October 29, 2021

On Friday, October 15, the RiverTrends team trained five new monitors with the James River Master Naturalists on a beautiful day in Powhatan County, Virginia. Special thanks to long-time monitor Elena Henderson for hosting the training and recruiting our trainees! The James River Master Naturalists now monitor five different sites along the James River and […]

Macroinvertebrate Collection at Mill Creek!

Posted on October 29, 2021

Macroinvertebrate collection and identification is a staple monitoring feature with many of CMC’s partners. In addition to the traditional order taxonomic level analysis, CMC has been partnering with the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) to have specimens identified to the family level. There are key watersheds where the CBP would like to have family level analysis […]

New StoryMap tells the Stories of Water Data

Posted on October 29, 2021

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission has produced a StoryMap on the nontidal stations they monitor. This StoryMap is meant to give you a better understanding of: (1) the Chesapeake Bay Program’s approach to measuring stream and river pollutants; (2) how scientists tell if conditions are improving; and, (3) where to find answers to your questions […]

The CMC Heads to WV for Protocol Trainings

Posted on October 29, 2021

On October 5th, team members from ALLARM, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, USGS, and the Izaak Walton League of America met for a field day at Cacapon State Park in Berkeley Springs, WV. The team gathered to record videos that will be used to train volunteers throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in a benthic […]

Virginia Water Monitoring Council Hosts Annual Conference

Posted on October 6, 2021

On Thursday, September 30 the Virginia Water Monitoring Council hosted their annual conference virtually! They had a packed agenda full of interesting topics from vernal pools to solar farms to PAH/PCB remediation. The CMC’s Liz Chudoba also presented on the Hack the Bay event and continued data analysis work. If you missed it this year, you […]

RiverTrends Welcomes New Monitors in Rockbridge County, VA

Posted on October 6, 2021

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is excited to welcome four new monitors to the Rockbridge Water Monitors in Rockbridge County, VA, including two students from Washington and Lee University. After a long hiatus while we worked to navigate COVID training protocols, we can’t thank our partners at the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council and existing RiverTrends monitors […]

Five New Trainers Join the Save Our Streams Network

Posted on October 6, 2021

The Izaak Walton League of America is excited to bring 5 new trainers into the Save Our Stream team in Virginia. Ben Rhoades from the Reston Association, Amy Ulland from the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Jessica McCaulley from the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District, and Julia Sargent and Daisy Blakely from the Friends of […]

Monitoring Tidal Sites at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on October 6, 2021

In August, Caroline Donovan and Nathan Miller (UMCES-IAN) took a field trip out to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, Maryland. A team of volunteers are measuring water quality (Secchi, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and more) at four tidal sites within the refuge. These volunteers have organized themselves and created this program with the help of the […]

UMD’s Environmental Justice Symposium Showed the Power of Community Science and Engagement

Posted on September 7, 2021

Every year, UMD’s Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) holds an Environmental Justice Symposium, one of the few opportunities in the region to hear from active community members and academics on confronting environmental injustice and working towards a healthier living environment. For the last 2 years, this symposium has become much more […]

Minecraft and Data Vis!

Posted on September 7, 2021

Check out this awesome work created by High School students in Maryland combining Minecraft with water quality data! Dissolved oxygen data was collected in a small tributary to the St. Mary’s River, Indigo’s Bay, last summer. As a result, Wesley (MineProWes) and his friends built a model of St. Indigo’s Bay and are exploring ways to […]

Stream Team has started flowing through Dauphin and Lebanon counties!

Posted on September 7, 2021

ALLARM is excited to report that Stream Team has expanded to Dauphin and Lebanon counties in Pennsylvania! We are so thankful for our colleagues for helping to facilitate stream monitoring opportunities while continuing to navigate COVID training protocols. Over the past year, ALLARM connected with Casey Clauser, a Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward Coordinator, […]

Virginia State University Joins RiverTrends!

Posted on September 7, 2021

In partnership with Dr. Shobha Sriharan at Virginia State University, The Alliance trained three students and recent graduates on August 25 under the RiverTrends program to collect monthly water quality samples. The students selected a site that is accessible from campus along the Lower Appomattox River Trail in Petersburg, Virginia. As the monitoring program grows, […]

Tributary Trends Summaries from the Chesapeake Bay Program

Posted on August 2, 2021

Photo by Ethan Weston/Chesapeake Bay Program The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Integrated Trends Analysis Team recently released summaries for the 12 major tributaries or tributary groups in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The tributary summaries cover: How tidal water quality changes over time; How factors that drive those changes change over time; and, The current state of […]

Izaak Walton League of America Welcomes New Save Our Streams Coordinator

Posted on July 30, 2021

The Izaak Walton League of America is excited to welcome Kira Carney as the new Virginia Save Our Streams Coordinator. To pursue her love of rocks and sharing nature’s wonders with others, Kira received her BA in Earth Science and Education from James Madison University. After spending a summer working with youth doing conservation projects […]

Beyond the river’s edge, exciting collaborative approach to education

Posted on July 30, 2021

As the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) explored avenues for community connection that were still safe during these COVID times, outdoor opportunities were key. When John Zaktansky, the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper asked if we wanted to collaborate on their Floating Classroom series, it was a quick yes for us! The ALLARM team made their […]

The CMC is Back in Full Swing!

Posted on July 2, 2021

After more than a year of limited operations throughout the watershed due to Covid-19, the CMC is back at full capacity. During the last year, the CMC paused in-person trainings and limited onboarding new monitors. With staff and many volunteers vaccinated and trainings currently taking place from Virginia to Pennsylvania, we are now back on […]

A New Watershed-Wide Benthic Project

Posted on July 2, 2021

The CMC is excited to announce a new project collecting benthic samples across the watershed to fill in data gaps for the Chesapeake Basin-wide Index of Biotic Integrity, or the Chessie BIBI. This project, funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust, relies on the CMC and our local connections throughout the Chesapeake region to collect tier […]

The CMC heads into the field with the Severn River Association!

Posted on June 30, 2021

Liz Chudoba (the Alliance) and Caroline Donovan (UMCES) joined Tom Guay and Emi McGeady (both from Severn River Association) for a day of field work. The main goal was to observe field measurements of dissolved oxygen profiles and water clarity. But, it was also a chance to get out on water! The weather was perfect […]

Expanding Monitoring Capacity

Posted on May 27, 2021

The CMC team is excited to announce a new partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. We will be establishing a monitoring protocol that targets restoration projects to track progress over time. First, the CMC team will conduct a study design workshop with key stakeholders. The workshop objectives are to identify data needs and […]

CitSciVirtual 2021

Posted on May 26, 2021

The CitSci conference, usually held in-person every other year, became an online platform for self-paced learning this year. The great thing about this conference is that it is a cross-section of all types of citizen science, from mining information from medical journals to tracking butterflies. With a variety of virtual events held live every day, […]

RiverTrends Trains 47 New Monitors!

Posted on May 26, 2021

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay has produced a hybrid training plan to bring new monitors on board. This is a combination of virtual and in-person training. Since January 2021, we have welcomed 47 new monitors to the RiverTrends program. Monitors completed an online training session, then attended an outdoor session to practice with their […]

Hack the Bay Leads the Way

Posted on May 6, 2021

The CMC team had a strong presence at the National Water Monitoring Conference this year! Of note, Liz Chudoba gave a presentation highlighting Hack the Bay as part of a session about local, state, and regional uses for community-collected data. It was a great opportunity to celebrate the partnership with Booz Allen, discuss the key […]

A successful, virtual National Monitoring Conference

Posted on May 6, 2021

The CMC project team attended the virtual National Monitoring Conference in April. The one-week virtual event brought together practitioners from federal, state, and volunteer monitoring organizations to share knowledge about monitoring across the U.S. The CMC presented on the Hack the Bay and provided a Data Interpretation workshop at the conference. The image (above) is […]

Data consistency in the Susquehanna watershed

Posted on April 5, 2021

ALLARM has started to have open Zoom calls with Stream Team monitors. That’s one of the positive outcomes of working from home during the pandemic. Stream Team volunteers in all participating counties can connect to each other! Every other month, volunteers can receive monitoring updates and explore how monitoring is going. During March’s call (with […]

It’s monitoring season!

Posted on April 5, 2021

The CMC team is partnering with the CBP, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, and EPA Wheeling Laboratories to start collection of lab analyzed family-level macroinvertebrate samples throughout the watershed. These samples will fill spatial gaps in the Chesapeake Stream Health Indicator. Working with the Wheeling Lab and subject matter experts, like Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ […]

Learning tools and techniques from each other

Posted on February 25, 2021

This past Tuesday, I attended ALLARM’s Data Interpretation workshop. It was specifically for Cumberland County Stream Team volunteers. Here at UMCES, we also provide Data Interpretation workshops for the CMC throughout the watershed. So, it was a great opportunity for us to learn new techniques and ways to work with volunteer monitors that we haven’t […]

CMC data now available on the CBP Data Hub!

Posted on February 25, 2021

The CMC team is excited to announce that data from the Chesapeake Data Explorer have been integrated into the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Data Hub! The CMC has been working with the CBP data team to build a bridge between the Data Explorer and the Data Hub, ensuring compatible methodologies, matching quality assurance, and assigning tiers. […]

The CMC reflects on its first six years

Posted on February 23, 2021

The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative is completing its sixth year. Together we have built a monitoring network, helped numerous groups start new monitoring programs and incorporated over 300,000 data points into the Chesapeake Data Explorer. We’re excited to share our report that highlights the amazing partnerships, collaborations, and accomplishments that we have been a part of […]

Friends of Dragon Run joins RiverTrends!

Posted on January 28, 2021

On January 12, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay conducted their first entirely virtual new monitor onboarding session. And, it was a success! Volunteers with Friends of Dragon Run, located in eastern Virginia, completed a virtual training session and learned how to properly use monitoring equipment. A few days later, the group passed an online […]

Calling citizen scientists for USGS stream temperature study

Posted on January 28, 2021

Do you live in the Chesapeake Bay headwaters and want to know more about your favorite stream or spring? Then, this opportunity may be for you! Researchers with the US Geological Survey (USGS) Leetown Science Center are launching a new study to understand how groundwater affects stream temperature – and how this may affect future […]

Winter Monitoring Safety Tips

Posted on January 28, 2021

While winter wonderlands may make for a gorgeous landscape, it can result in treacherous conditions for water quality monitoring. Safety is always our number one priorty. Please be mindful of the weather and water conditions when going into the field. If you cannot access your site safely due to snow, ice, or slippery conditions, check […]

Citizen Science for the Win-Win Roundtable

Posted on January 8, 2021

On December 16th, Liz Chudoba, the CMC Program Manager, participated in the Chesapeake Research Consortium’s Roundtable panel. It was called Citizen Science for the Win-Win. The panel focused on the value that citizen science can provide. This includes boosting public understanding of and trust in environmental protection and restoration. Citizen scientists provide high quality data, […]

Otsego County Conservation Association Reaches a Monitoring Milestone!

Posted on January 8, 2021

After three years of stream monitoring in the Susquehanna River, the Otsego County Conservation Association was ready to interpret their data. ALLARM reviewed their data with them on December 9th. During this data interpretation event, volunteers viewed graphical summaries of their data. They also used their local knowledge to tell their story. These New York […]

York County, PA Stream Team Virtual Training Was A Success

Posted on November 24, 2020

Adapting to COVID circumstances is providing opportunities for ALLARM to test and refine our remote training approaches. On November 9th, with Penn State York Master Watershed Stewards and the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, ALLARM trained 11 new Stream Team volunteers to conduct monthly stream assessments. Drawing from lessons we learned during previous virtual training, we identified […]

New Stream Team in Luzerne & Lackawanna Counties, PA

Posted on October 28, 2020

After a 5-month long delay in training, ALLARM is happy to welcome 16 volunteers from Penn State Extension’s Master Watershed Stewards program to a new Lackawanna – Luzerne Stream Team. Since being trained virtually at the end of August, the new stream team has gotten out to monitor nine sites across Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. […]

Bowie State University joins RiverTrends

Posted on October 28, 2020

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay has partnered with Bowie State University, Maryland’s oldest historically black college, to create a monitoring program. It will expose students to green career pathways and explore the tie between environmental and public health. Forty-eight students participated in a Bay 101 webinar at the end of September. The webinar introduced […]

Winter Salt Watch is Kicking Off!

Posted on October 27, 2020

Become a Salt Watcher! Winter is right around the corner, and there’s always the potential for an early snowstorm to catch us off guard. With snowfall, salt application can be expected too. Excessive salt and other de-icers applied to roads, parking lots, and sidewalks during colder months can pose a threat to aquatic life and […]

Hack the Bay Winners Create New Ways to Use CMC Data

Posted on October 5, 2020

Hack the Bay, a hackathon led by Booz Allen Hamilton in partnership with the CMC, was a rousing success! 430 participants joined the hackathon from 37 countries, 172 cities, and 103 universities. Participants represented skills, positions, and levels of expertise across data science, web development, and human-centered design. Hack the Bay was an entirely volunteer-led […]

Shifting gears towards virtual trainings

Posted on September 28, 2020

Due to the pandemic, the CMC team has had to quickly adjust our volunteer engagement strategies and monitoring support to ensure the safety of all participants. These efforts have focused on established monitoring groups by creating virtual training videos and certification programs. This also means implementing new safety guidelines for monitors that include social distancing […]

Izaak Walton League’s Central New York Chapter Joins the CMC!

Posted on September 25, 2020

The IWLA Central New York chapter is excited to join the CMC and integrate their data into the Chesapeake Data Explorer. They formed in 1989 to conserve, maintain, protect, and restore central New York‘s soil, air, woodlands, waters, and wildlife. The Central New York chapter founded Project Watershed over 25 years ago with these goals in mind. Project Watershed works with students […]

CMC Says Bon Voyage to Helen Schlimm

Posted on September 8, 2020

After an incredible three years, it was with a heavy heart that we said farewell to ALLARM’s Community Science Specialist, Helen Schlimm, as she moves to Hawaii to be with her family and to explore island conservation and restoration. Helen joined the CMC crew in 2017. She fit right into our team, bringing grounded energy, […]

CMC featured in Outdoor America Magazine

Posted on September 6, 2020

The Izaak Walton League’s quarterly magazine, Outdoor America, featured an article on the CMC! Emily Bialowas, one of the CMC’s IWLA team members, wrote the article. The article provides an overview of the CMC and highlights the services that we provide. The Friends of the Bohemia, a Cooperative member, is also highlighted in the story. […]

Hack the Bay Partners Host Panel on Environmental Justice

Posted on September 3, 2020

As part of the Hack the Bay event, our partners at Booz Allen Hamilton hosted an Environmental Justice panel on Tuesday, August 18th. This panel covered how 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. The panelists […]

The Catchment Monitoring Cooperative – a new initiative in the United Kingdom

Posted on August 27, 2020

The Cooperative has been working with partners in the United Kingdom, providing advice on setting up a regional monitoring initiative. To help out, the CMC presented on volunteer engagement and the benefits of volunteer monitoring programs at their Catchment Data and Evidence Forum. The organization is working to set up a similar program to the […]

Investigating stakeholder perspectives – Survey

Posted on August 17, 2020

Please consider participating in an important survey investigating stakeholder perspectives on Chesapeake Bay management and public engagement in science. Your responses will inform ongoing research on Chesapeake Bay citizen science. Please complete the survey by Friday, August 28th. This survey is part of a PhD dissertation study at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The survey will take approximately 10 […]

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 >>

Jun 4

Susquehanna County Stream Team Training

Susquehanna County, PA

ALLARM

In partnership with Penn State Extension’s Master Watershed Stewards, ALLARM will be training monitors in Susquehanna County on monthly chemical monitoring methods.

Jun 9

RiverTrends Recertification Training

ACB

The Alliance is hosting a recertification training for any certified monitor working with the RiverTrends Middle Peninsula Master Naturalists group.