Archives

The Ripple: Engaging as Citizen Scientists Along the River

Last week an energetic group of Hilltown Families citizen scientists and Kurt Heidinger, Executive Director of Biocitizen, conducted our fourth annual rapid biotic assessment of the Westfield River in West Chesterfield. This month in Kurt’s post, “The Ripple,” hear all about it, what we found and images from the afternoon…

Category: Citizen Scientist, Community Based Education, Contributing Writer, Ecology, Kurt Heidinger, Nature Based Education Tags: Adopt a River, Benthic Invertebrates, Citizen Scientists, community engagement, Connecticut River, Ecology, Environment, Environmental Steward, Massachusetts, Nature, outdoors, Pioneer Valley, Rapid Biotic Assessments, rba, Rivers, rivers and streams, Watershed, western massachusetts, Westfield River

The Ripple: Families Work as Citizen Scientists for the Westfield River

Families Learn about the Relationship Between Benthic Invertebrates and River Ecology with Hilltown Families & Biocitizen Halloween’s upon us and the leaves are almost down—and for river lovers that means it’s time to do Rapid Biotic Assessments (RBA), which involves capturing and cataloging the bugs—benthic invertebrates —that live on the riverbed. Certain bugs like stonefly-nymphs need lots of oxygen to survive, and when you find a bunch of them, it’s a sign… Read More

Category: Citizen Scientist, Contributing Writer, Ecology, Kurt Heidinger Tags: Adopt a River, Benthic Invertebrates, Citizen Scientists, Connecticut River, Ecology, Environment, Environmental Steward, Massachusetts, Pioneer Valley, Rapid Biotic Assessments, rba, Rivers, rivers and streams, Watershed, western massachusetts, Westfield River

The Ripple: Finding the Heart of the Watershed

Thinking Like A Watershed One of the funnier thoughts I’ve heard goes like this: “I want to be one with nature.” You might have heard of this thought, or a variation of it, too. The reason I find it funny is that it’s actually impossible not to be “one with nature,” if being “one” means directly, physically and existentially connected to the vital sources of being. If, by any chance, you are… Read More

Category: Contributing Writer, Ecology, Kurt Heidinger Tags: Adopt a River, Citizen Scientists, Connecticut River, Ecology, Environment, Environmental Steward, Fractals, Massachusetts, Nature, outdoors, Pioneer Valley, Rivers, rivers and streams, streams and rivers, Watershed, western massachusetts, Westfield River

The Ripple: Adopt Your Local Stream or River

Adopt Your Local Stream or River Rivers and streams are beautiful. That’s why we are drawn to them, deeply and elementally. The first colonists in Western Massachusetts hugged close to the rivers because of the abundance of life that issued from and through them, and our (or at least my) favorite town of all—Northampton—still retains much of the vibrancy of its original biocultural character: an idealistic, community-oriented and caring character generated by… Read More