Rivers are full of life, even in the depths of winter! Join Friends of the St. Clair River staff and Stream Team volunteers as we enter streams on a hunt for the elusive winter stonefly. These tiny insects, equipped with a natural antifreeze, spend most of their lives as nymphs in the water and emerge […]

Winter stoneflies (Capniidae and Taeniopterygidae) are important biotic indicators of water quality. Their increasing numbers are one way we can tell that water quality has greatly improved from historical conditions in the early and mid-1900’s. These stoneflies have natural anti-freeze in their blood, so they are able to remain active in the winter months. Reproducing […]

We need your eyes, hands, and boots on the ground! No prior experience is necessary, but PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Children eight and older are welcome when accompanied by a PARTICIPATING adult; groups limited to four people. We really value your participation. If you do sign up, your team will be counting on you to be […]

Knowing the types of bugs that live in our streams helps us understand how healthy the river system is, which areas are healthiest, and where we need to focus our restoration efforts to improve water quality. Join a small team of your friends, family, and other volunteers to collect bugs from streams across the watershed! […]

Interested in protecting Northern Michigan’s rivers and streams? Join us for Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council’s Volunteer Stream Monitoring Spring Training! This training will teach you how to monitor stream health and collect macroinvertebrates — tiny aquatic insects that help us measure water quality. We’ll begin with a brief indoor presentation at our office, […]

What is Stream Monitoring? The Van Buren Conservation District, Two Rivers Coalition, and volunteers come together to protect our water. We wade into rivers and streams to collect macroinvertebrates (bugs and the like) to monitor our water’s health. We always have fun, and you don’t need experience to join in! Why bugs/macroinvertebrates? One cup of water […]

Learn what it takes to be a community scientist at this free event! You will help to collect aquatic insects to monitor the water quality of Eaton County streams. Volunteers will meet at the C.S. Mott Academic Center at The University of Olivet to review stream monitoring protocols before going out into the field. All […]

Adopt-A-Stream is a volunteer-based initiative that empowers community members to protect local streams and rivers by monitoring water quality. Volunteers are trained, teamed-up, assigned sites, given equipment and data sheets then sent out into the field to gather information on streamside habitats, physical characteristics, and aquatic insect populations. Each team will receive its own time […]

Spring is around the corner, which means we're gearing up for our annual Stream Team Spring Monitoring field day on Saturday, May 3rd at 10 a.m. If you want to support your river, Stream Team is for you! We host water quality monitoring events every spring to gather data used for monitoring and conservation efforts. […]

Learn what it takes to be a community scientist at this free event! You will help to collect aquatic insects to monitor the water quality of Eaton County streams. Volunteers will meet at the C.S. Mott Academic Center at The University of Olivet to review stream monitoring protocols before going out into the field. All […]