News Article

In December, iUTAH partner Utah Water Watch (UWW) said farewell to their longtime program coordinator, Brian Greene. With his departure, UWW is reorganizing their operations in a way that will increase their capacity to raise public awareness of Utah’s water resources.

UWW has added two new staff members to their water quality education and data collection program. Ellen Bailey and Eli Robinson will be co-coordinating UWW, Stream Side Science (SSS), and other outreach programs. Ellen has been working as program coordinator for Utah State University (USU) Water Quality Extension since June 2015. Eli joined the program this year as an AmeriCorps volunteer.  They both enjoy working with the public, and are passionate about water and the environment. 

Before coming to USU, Ellen worked as an environmental scientist in Florida, monitoring water quality and assisting with wetland and spring restoration projects.  Eli, a recent graduate of Whitman College in Washington, has experience working with fisheries and water quality in the Intermountain West.

With their guidance, UWW will continue to train citizen scientists in water quality monitoring. They will expand the network of advanced monitoring (Tier 2) volunteers across the state. These volunteers work one-on-one with scientists or watershed coordinators to collect specific data used in assessment of restoration efforts.

This fits with USU Professor and Extension Water Quality Specialist, Nancy Mesner’s findings. “People are learning as they collect this data, about their own water bodies, water bodies that they may have lived next to for years,” she said.

Ellen and Eli will also be working to merge of common elements of the Stream Side Science youth education program with UWW, encouraging more students, teachers, and clubs to participate in local water quality monitoring.  Along with these improvements, Ellen will be based in Salt Lake City, out of the Utah Division of Water Quality office, while Eli will be in Logan. This arrangement will allow greater coverage along the Wasatch front.

“What we find is that they [volunteers] feel more positive about water bodies as they understand how they change over time,” said Mesner. “Sometimes people see a water body get turbid and they think it is polluted, and it is just that the flows are up. They learn to understand seasonal changes, and that they have cleaner water than they thought. What we find is that this is an entryway to more stewardship, and more sensible ownership.”

 

Ellen Bailey and Eli Robinson co-coordinate UWW, Stream Side Science, and other outreach programs
Photo credit: Ellen Bailey and Eli Robinson