Volunteer Citizen Scientist

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The Providence Stormwater Innovation Center is the result of a collaboration of organizations and community dedicated to improving urban water quality and associated wildlife habitat through the use of innovative green stormwater practices. The Center is located within Roger Williams Park, where a wide range of green infrastructure has been implemented to reduce stormwater contaminants from entering the ponds and degrading water quality. The Center will be using these structures and practices as a hands-on training facility for municipalities, engineers, construction companies, and scientists who will learn from the successes and failures of the design, implementation, and maintenance of these structures in Roger Williams Park.

In order to measure the impacts of stormwater treatment, a water quality monitoring program is being established. We are partnering with URI’s Watershed Watch volunteer monitoring program to perform some of the data collection. No prior experience is necessary, just an interest in learning about water quality sampling and monitoring in your community. Watershed Watch provides all of the training necessary to become a citizen scientist! Training sessions will be offered Thursday Mar 21 (6-9pm), Thursday Mar 28 (6-9pm), and Saturday Mar 30 (9am-noon). Because the measurement of water clarity, a critical element of lake monitoring, is heavily influenced by the height of the sun, monitoring at these sites takes place mid-day, when the sun is at its highest from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM, on a weekly basis on the day of your choice. Then at least three times a season according to a schedule established by URI Watershed Watch, samples will be collected and immediately brought to the URI Watershed Watch laboratory in Kingston for analysis of parameters that cannot be done in the field.

For more information about the Providence Stormwater Innovation Center and the volunteer monitoring program, please contact Ryan Kopp at rkopp@asri.org or register for a training class at https://web.uri.edu/watershedwatch/getting-involved-becoming-a-citizen-scientist/