Michiganders can sign up for volunteer lake monitor training through the Michigan Clean Water Corp (MiCorps).
MiCorps is a statewide network of volunteer monitoring programs that collaborate to collect water quality data statewide.
The volunteer initiative, called the Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program, is in its 51st year, and is sponsored by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
There’s an in-person training session in Muskegon on April 25 and 26, and a virtual session on April 30. During the trainingS, participants learn about the history of the monitoring project. They are briefed on monitoring protocol, learn detailed data collection procedures, and receive necessary data collection equipment. All sessions are free to participants.
Jo Latimore is the director of Michigan Clean Water Corps. She says you don’t have to be a scientist to volunteer.
“Anyone who is curious about their lake and interested in putting a little time in is a good fit for this program,” she said.
Once trained, volunteers collect data about water quality, invasive species, shoreline ecosystems, water oxygen availability, and habitat conditions in statewide lakes. These data collected by volunteers are then added to the MiCorps Data Exchange.
This public database is open and accessible, with decades of data. The findings are used to make resource management and protection program decisions, and are used by researchers, fisheries, and college courses statewide.
Latimore says that in the program’s 51st year, volunteer research efforts are more important than ever.
“Now with the current state [...] we’re seeing many of our government agencies struggling to continue to collect data,” she said. ”That just makes the work that our volunteers do that much more important.”
