Volunteers Needed: Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program

Explore Benzie County’s aquatic ecosystems with our Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program (VSMP). You can support local waters—and no experience is necessary!

Twice a year, our Conservation Specialist, John Ransom, leads volunteers during this ongoing study about the health of three local waterways. Our VSMP events have been actively gathering data for over ten years, providing important insights about water quality in the Betsie River, Platte River, and Herring Creeks.  As a community science initiative, VSMP is an opportunity for all members of the public to get involved in local research. In other words, you play a key role in supporting these waters.

Please join us on Saturday, October 14th in collecting macroinvertebrates (aquatic insects) to learn about the unique inhabitants of these waters and what they have to say about the streams’ health. No experience or prior knowledge about macroinvertebrates is required. The day of VSMP, you’ll receive instructions and be invited to gather the macroinvertebrates from the water or sort them out of gathered samples. VSMP is a great way to get introduced to both environmental studies and aquatic ecosystems here in Benzie County.

We’ll be meeting at 9:00am at the Benzie Conservation District office in Beulah before breaking into teams and heading to the Betsie, Platte, and Herring Creeks waterways. Lunch is provided and we expect to finish around 2:00pm. Registration is required: please email john@benziecd.org or call 231-882-4391. Please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions, if you need to borrow waders (and what size), and if you have a preference for which stream team to be on (Betsie, Platte, or Herring Creeks).

REgister for VSMP

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