Project Watershed Central New York

In 1997 and 1998, Project Watershed CNY/SOS, in conjunction with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-CESF) provided teacher instructional, training sessions in stream monitoring.  The sessions were taught by members of the Project Watershed CNY/SOS Consortium.  In spring of 1999, an instructional training was conducted for adult volunteers as part of developing the SAS program.  Teachers and adult volunteers are encouraged to attend these sessions, when offered, to learn about Project Watershed CNY/SOS sampling/monitoring protocols, chemical analytical procedures, and benthic macroinvertebrate identification.  Ideally, all volunteers should be retrained annually if sessions are offered. 

Student volunteers are prepared by their teachers and will undergo a short orientation session with Project Watershed CNY/SOS personnel the day of a monitoring event.  An individual(s) with macroinvertebrate identification skills will accompany the group in the field. 

Volunteer performance is evaluated in the field during monitoring events by participating project members.  As part of the project’s long-range planning, Project Watershed CNY/SOS hopes to develop a training certification program in the future.  Ideally, approved project volunteers would begin to recruit and train volunteers over time.