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Learning By Doing
Check out video of Steve Rudolph's personal river study project HERE...
This past river season 2019, from March to October, FOMR
member Steve Rudolph took on a project to satisfy his own curiosity about what
affects the water temperatures in Middle River. He crafted a plan, then visited
the river daily, all season long with some help from his friend, Tom Howell. Steve enacted
his version of scientific inquiry, measuring what he could, hypothesizing
and drawing tentative conclusions from his data. Like all scientists, his data
led to even more questions. READ MORE… |
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Saltwatch Results from 2018-19
The Friends of the Middle River took water samples and
tested for chloride over the winter of
2018-2019 to determine how much winter deicing salts were running off in snowmelt and rain events and getting into the
river. Eleven volunteers monitored at 10 different sites along 30 miles of
river, targeting downstream of several bridges, including the Interstate 81
bridge that crosses Middle River. Results of this pilot project indicate that
very little salt was measured in Middle River under the 2018-2019 winter
weather conditions. READ MORE... |
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Underground Classroom Volunteers Needed
The Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District needs
volunteers to assist staff in the delivery of conservation education to
children and youth by utilizing the Underground Classroom. If you are interested
in helping the Underground Classroom at various schools within the district,
please visit headwatersswcd.org/underground-classroom for additional details.
Volunteer application is at the above link and also HERE. For more information,
please contact Kayla Mathews at kmathews@co.augusta.va.us
or (540)-248-0148 ext.8. |
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www.macroinvertebrates.org
If
you have not yet seen it, check out this terrific website with aquatic
macroinvertebrate insect photos that will help you up your stream
monitoring game. There's a great online ID key and super detail to help
you ID even to the species level. Organized by families...this website
is a benthic monitor's treasure. Check it out HERE! |
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Congratulations, Courtney!
We are happy and proud to inform everyone that FOMR member, Courtney Hallacher, has won the statewide Conservation Educator of the Year award from the Virginia's Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. She has worked on and
monitored the stream in Middlebrook for seven years, managing invasive
vegetation, planting natives, taking water samples, and monitoring
macroinvertebrates. She also releases fish from her Trout in the Classroom there. She teaches
11th and 12th grade anatomy, advanced environmental science and ecology
at Riverheads High School. For four years, her students did the lab processing for our monthly E. coli samples.
Courtney is pictured here as staff leading our Dusk Float Trip this past summer. Kudos, Courtney, for all the great work you and your students have done with us and elsewhere! |
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Gift Ideas!
Consider ordering some stocking stuffers from our FOMR member-authors who published this year!
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Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia by Paul Bugas, Jr., Corbin Hilling, Val Kells, Michael Pinder, Derek Wheaton & Donald Orth. Order book HERE.
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Swoope Almanac by Bobby Whitescarver. Order book HERE.
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E. coli Monitoring Report
Check out the much improved scores! November’s results are much, much better, not only because there was no heavy rain
to wash bacteria into the water but also because livestock during
cooler weather do not need to lounge in the water to keep cool, so
there’s less direct deposit from critters. See the details HERE.
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We wish all our Friends a happy, safe Thanksgiving. |
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I wish to express my personal gratitude for the help of FOMR member and volunteer, Adrie Voors, who provides newsletter proofreading every month! ~Kate |
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FOMR is a Paddle America Club member
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Read more about Friends of the Middle River at our website HERE.
And follow us on Facebook!
P.O. Box 131, Verona VA 24482 540-609-8267
FOMR is a 501(c)(3) organization.
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