NCADH Tier II Macroinvertebrate Trainer Certification Course
June 25-26, 2019
Monitoring benthic invertebrates in streams – building skills to make a difference in your community
Why go to this workshop?
To learn how to collect cost effective, high quality biological data on your streams that can be used to track long term trends and evaluate impacts on stream health;
NC Division of Water Resources only collects benthic data every 5 years, on a limited number of streams;
To learn how to teach others to use high quality benthic invertebrate monitoring methods,
To be a part of a statewide effort to standardize water quality collection methods and data management, and
College & high school teachers can engage students in collecting stream data in a way that makes a difference in their watershed
Who should participate?
I have 1-2 years minimum experience in monitoring benthic invertebrates, and am able to identify benthic invertebrates by Family;
I have at least 1 year experience teaching adult learners in a science setting
AND
I am interested in monitoring benthic invertebrates in my community or for my work, and/or
I am interested in starting or expanding citizen science efforts to monitor benthic invertebrates
What is it?
Workshop will teach a protocol adopted by the NC Aquatic Data Hub, originally developed by the Environmental Quality Institute (EQI), designed to engage untrained community members in advanced aquatic macroinvertebrate monitoring. The protocol is considered a Tier II method for stream monitoring by the NCADH, which will provide high quality data to inform planning and management efforts (if a quality assurance plan accompanies the data). Participants will learn training techniques & program requirements, become familiar with training materials/tools, practice the protocol in a classroom and a stream, and will learn basic information about Quality Assurance Plans.
What is it not?
An introductory course on benthic invertebrate monitoring
A certification course for trainers seeking NC DWR acceptance of data for rating streams. That requires a Tier III protocol and training.
This two day Workshop will take place from 9 am to 4 pm each day.
The course instructors:
Gracia O’Neill is the Assistant Director of the Environmental Quality Institute and has extensive experience in community and volunteer organizing. She has provided education, advocacy, and technical assistance to NC communities on a wide variety of water-related issues. She has coordinated the SMIE volunteer biomonitoring program since 2004, co-led all SMIE volunteer trainings, and has been a SMIE Group Leader since 2006. Gracia has a B.A. degree in Environmental Studies.
Dave Penrose is a highly esteemed biologist, retired from the Water Quality Group at North Carolina State University. Much of his work in the last decade has been assessing the effectiveness of stream restoration projects using biological tools, specifically benthic insects. In addition to Dave’s work with stream restoration, he has also taught many workshops which focus on the taxonomy of aquatic insects. Prior to his work at NCSU, Dave was employed at NC DWR as a benthic taxonomist and studied the impacts of both point and non-point sources of water pollution to aquatic insects. He has been the Lead Biologist with the SMIE project since 2012.
Tier II Macroinvertabrate Training June 25-26
To register for the Tier II Macroinvertabrate training, enter any dietary preferences you have regarding lunch. Click the Pay Now button. You will be taken to our PayPal site where you’ll enter your contact and payment information. You may also register by calling the New River Conservancy office at 336-846-6267. The fee for attending this workshop is $50 for both days.
Directions to the workshop
The Chatham County Cooperative Extension office is located just west of Pittsboro, NC on Highway 64.