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EEWC Ambassadors Celebrate World Water Monitoring Day
Each year, our EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassadors celebrate World Water Monitoring Day by leading an impactful series of community water monitoring and education events across the country. This Fall 2022, Ambassadors reached over 1,200 youth and community members through these programs - building community awareness and engagement in waterway monitoring and conservation.
Check out highlights and reflections from our Ambassadors on their events below!
Sanjana Bhatta and Pia Visaria
West Windsor Township, New Jersey - Our water monitoring and sustainability event was held on Friday, September 16th at the Mercer County Park Marina in New Jersey with a local girl scout troop. Our agenda included introducing ourselves with an icebreaker about our favorite marine animal, having a volunteer from EarthEcho partner, Nephros, talk about the impact of water monitoring and her personal career, a water monitoring demonstration and activity, and some fun trivia games with prizes.
The event was an all round success, and we had a great time organizing and hosting it. It was so nice to see so many young voices already engaged in the crucial task of ocean conservation. We were definitely glad to spread the message!
Coconut Grove, Florida - I joined forces with my school's Green Club in order to host a water testing/beach cleanup. By the end of the event, around 40 people were reached. We collected all sorts of trash--including a microwave that had washed up on the shore with the recent increase of rain. We were also able to connect several amounts of data, mainly covering turbidity levels as there was a clear abundance of sediment in the water.
Dania Beach, Florida - My organization, Saving Ocean Life Inc. (SOL) started off the event with a water testing demonstration, interacting with Central Park Elementary School students to get accurate and shocking results. I taught participants how EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassadors test our waters monthly and explained the importance of keeping our waterways healthy. After the demonstration, volunteers grabbed buckets and gloves and headed onto the beach to remove as much trash as possible. We were able to remove several buckets worth of trash along with a large raft off of our coastlines. Overall, volunteers of all ages were able to learn about the importance of water testing and help keep our beaches clean.
Covalence Global partnered with Youth Pawa to organize a virtual ocean conservation event on World Water Monitoring Day on September 18. We spoke about our work/youth opportunities, featured guest speakers Daniel Enock Manoba, Oshadhi Wimansa, and Peace Boat US, and discussed monitoring water and the goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030 (30x30).
For registrants who were not able to join (since Covalence has a global outreach, our members live in many different time zones), we provided a Zoom recording. We also created a post-event action link document where participants can build on what was discussed.
Burlington/Massachusetts - During my event, I gave a presentation on the importance of monitoring water quality and EarthEcho's mission. From there I demonstrated instructions on how to use the EarthEcho water quality test kits. We used the remaining 20 minutes to test samples of water that I brought from a local pond. Everyone recorded data from different samples and we averaged everyone's data. From there I double checked the numbers and procedures and uploaded the data at home. Generally, I received a highly positive response from the students.
Portland, OR - I set up a table at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry where I engaged museum visitors of all ages with water monitoring. The Water we tested came from various local lakes and rivers and I shared information about the importance of the various water quality indicators and things specific to these waterways. I also related this work to the goals of the 30x30 campaign and marine protected areas.
Kean Dao and David Yoon
Greenville, North Carolina - During our presentation, we went over the process of testing water quality and answered any questions participants asked. After the process of water testing, we explained what leadership means and how they can get involved in EarthEcho or become a volunteer in their community. Together we introduced the Environmental Droners program and the projects they are currently working on - the Litter Locator App, filming trash, and leading clean-ups. We ended by providing participants with their own water kit in a grand reveal where the kids and teachers were very excited to use the kits to monitor their own local waterway! Talking to their headmaster we are planning another event there soon! Post-World Water Monitoring Day, we are still connected where they can ask any questions they have and we still help out in any way we can!
Lecanto, FL- At our school, there is a lot of runoff that collects in our courtyard area because we have horrible drainage. Prior to our event, it had been raining pretty heavily therefore I worked with the environmental club and at one of the meetings we tested the water accumulating from the recent rainfall. Our results showed the need to address the issues of runoff and we used this to jumpstart the club’s main project - building a school garden.
New Haven, CT- I hosted a coastal clean up to help protect the New Haven Harbor waterway. A group of volunteers came together to help clean up the area. Many residents recognize the area as having tons of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste, so I decided it would be great to clean up the area. I do a rowing program in this harbor, and have always seen tons of wildlife, including swans, geese, ducks, fish, jellyfish, crabs, and much more. With the group of volunteers, we filled up over 10 trash bags and cleaned up most of the area along Long Wharf Drive in the time of 4 hours.
Caroline Crowley and Annabel Fiero
Malden, Massachusetts - Caroline: EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassadors Annabel Fiero and Caroline Crowley joined Friends of the Malden River for an event celebrating the communities surrounding Malden’s central waterway. At the Malden Words on the Water and Project Misik event on September 24th, Annabel and Caroline hosted a table engaging event attendees in water testing demonstrations and discussions on ways to protect local waterways. Family groups, educators, local scientists, and program directors got a chance to test the quality of water from the Malden River and compare the data they gathered while learning more about the EarthEcho mission to build a global youth movement to protect and restore our ocean planet.
Annabel: It was a great experience to meet a lot of different people working towards conservation and protecting our local waterways in the greater Boston areas. High school science teachers, executives from other water monitoring and water conservation organizations, marine and terrestrial scientists, and many families stopped by our booth and brought their own perspectives on monitoring water.
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Hollywood, FL- In collaboration with the Sheridan Technical SGA, EarthEcho Water Challenge, and the Marine Environmental Education Center, I hosted a beach cleanup and water monitoring demonstration. We had 30 people attend and collected 115 pounds of trash from 9-12 on Saturday, September 24th. We also had people take pictures with 30X30 posters to spread the word about the campaign.
Pointe Aux Chiens, Louisiana - My World Water Monitoring Day presentation happened at Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana's Pointe Aux Chien's Oyster Reef Deployment. I demonstrated how to test water quality and constructed a tri-board with more information on how important water testing is.
Hudson, Ohio - For my World Water Monitoring Day event, I worked with three 6th grade science classes to demonstrate water monitoring and give a presentation about the importance of monitoring. I discussed local bodies of water and water health, and I led the students through data collection. We had conversations about actions that we can take to protect our bodies of water.
Faith Phillips and Harper Campbell
Tarpon Springs, FL- We set up a table at the Tarpon Springs Aquarium and talked to attendees at the event about the importance of monitoring water in our area. In addition, we did a live demonstration of the process at the stingray touch tank. We let a very enthusiastic little girl come up and assist us in the process. We reviewed general information on stingray conservation and why they are important. We also handed out coloring sheets to the kids! Overall we had a successful event and fostered a passion for water conservation in the community.
Brooksville, FL - In honor of World Water Monitoring Day, I hosted two different events. I spent a day with a group of homeschoolers and another day at Brooksville Elementary. For the homeschool group I shared a presentation on water quality and highlighted how trash can get into our ocean. I let the group monitor the water in groups. After they monitored the water we talked about possible careers that involve water conservation and the OceanEcho 30x30 campaign. The students wrote on a 30x30 board that I made to share their commitments to protecting our ocean and waterways.
At Brooksville Elementary I shared a presentation with information on pH, dissolved oxygen, water temperature, turbidity, and different careers you can have involving water. I also showed my Enviroscape model which visually shows how pollutants and trash affect our waterways. Since I couldn't take the kids to monitor water, I brought water from Lake Townsen Park that I collected for the students to still get to partake in water monitoring. At the end of both days, I gave every student a take home packet that included educational materials and some fun items from Southwest Florida Management District, Hernando County Utilities Department, EarthEcho International, and Emma's Seeds of Kindness.
Annapolis, Maryland - In the first part of my event, I recruited 3 friends to pick a beach in our home town of Annapolis, Maryland. I then supplied them with trash bags and gloves and left it to them to find 2-3 other people who would help them with their beach. This allowed us to cover more territory and not have a limited amount of people due to the small beach size. Each group had a very successful beach cleanup and hopefully levied a positive impact on their community.
The second part of my event was continuing the presentation that I have done for the past two years with my elementary school. I came into two different 4th grade classes with a presentation about water quality and the Chesapeake Bay. I also brought in a sample of Chesapeake Bay water from the beach down the street. The kids each received a component of the water challenge testing kit and they were able to have hands-on experience with testing and understanding why it's important to know the state of our bay.
San Francisco, CA - I hosted my event with the environmental club at my school. I brought in water from three different sources: the ocean, tap water, and sparkling water. I used them to show a wide range of pH levels and used sparkling water (very acidic) to explain ocean acidification. I included a 30x30 presentation and had a discussion at the end. We had a very productive conversation about ocean conservation and how we can all take action locally.
Korbyn Cannon and CC Toussaint
Nashville, TN - To celebrate World Water Monitoring Day this year, Ambassadors Korbyn Cannon and CC Toussaint teamed up with the Tennessee Aquatic Project and hosted at their adopted stream, Whites Creek, reaching 11 young people in their community.
