ST&T – Adopt-A-Stream: Citizen Science and Healthy Waters

Georgia Adopt-A-Stream encourages and supports community members interested in collecting water quality data, ranging from dissolved oxygen to crayfish abundance. These data are then used by the community, local organizations, universities, and others to explore and protect watersheds. Learn how to harness the power of your curiosity through citizen science!

On Aug 22nd, Jenna Dodson and Bailey Crapps discussed citizen science, the importance of water, and how you can contribute to healthy waterways.

Jenna Dodson earned her M.S. in environmental studies at Virginia Commonwealth University where she studied warbler reproductive ecology. She transitioned from birds to trees to serve in Peace Corps Senegal as an agroforestry extension agent, returning to academia as a research associate in the population-health-environment field at Gothenburg University. Her true passion lies in public engagement with science, which led her to become the state coordinator of Georgia’s water quality citizen science program, Adopt-A-Stream. She can almost always be found outdoors, often birding, biking, backpacking or gardening.

Bailey Crapps graduated from the University of North Georgia in 2018 with a BS in biology. During her undergrad, she focused on ecological studies and conducted a research project on macroinvertebrates and water quality in Costa Rica. She took every opportunity to splash around in creeks and jumped at the opportunity to be a part of Georgia Adopt-A-Stream first as a part time program assistant, then full time as a state coordinator. Bailey loves hiking, camping, kayaking, and turning over rocks in streams in hopes to one day to fulfill her dream of seeing a hellbender in the wild.