October 11, 2006, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM, EDT (17:00-19:00 GMT)

Throughout the world, trained volunteers provide an invaluable service: monitoring and providing data on the quality of rivers, streams, lakes, estuaries, and wetlands. This session will provide a primer on starting a volunteer water quality program. Instructors will discuss key steps to follow, questions to ponder, examples of success stories, and where the best resources are for further information. They will also introduce a tiered approach to ensure the best use of volunteer-collected data. The data use tiers are defined by the purpose of the program, the intended use of its data, and the intended data users. Also, learn about World Water Monitoring Day, celebrated every October to raise awareness about the importance of water quality monitoring (http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/).

• Linda Green, Program Director, University of Rhode Island Watershed Watch Program (LGreen@uri.edu)
• Danielle Donkersloot, Volunteer Monitoring Coordinator, New Jersey DEP (danielle.donkersloot@dep.state.nj.us)

• Ron Ohrel, Tetra Tech, Inc (ron.ohrel@tetratech-ffx.com)

Press the "Go to Seminar" button to view the seminar. Please be at this location at the beginning of the conference call.

An archive of this seminar is available for download in Microsoft PowerPoint Format, Adobe Acrobat, and MP3 formats.