BELLEFONTE — There are a lot of streams in the area and teams from the Centre County Senior Environmental Corps are braving the pandemic to help monitor them.
The nonprofit group is associated with ClearWater Conservancy and the Centre County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and consists of teams of older adults over the age of 55. Members work in teams of three to six, regularly visiting sites throughout the watershed to gather about 40 data points per site, including water chemistry, stream flow, riparian characteristics and counts of macroinvertebrates.
“Pennsylvania does not have unlimited resources to monitor all of them (streams). Our volunteers augment the limited state-sponsored remote sensors,” said board member Ken Johnson. “We are a key information resource to provide a status of conditions of many local and remotely accessible streams in the Beech Creek watershed. Our streams and tributaries are a critical natural resource and a part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.”
Johnson said the cornonavirus pandemic “heavily impacted our monitoring this year, but starting in June, some of our Centre County Senior Environmental Corps teams braved the pandemic to continue their monitoring efforts with appropriate precautions.”
Since volunteers are in the age range that is considered higher risk for COVID-19, precautions are in place to keep them safe while they are out on streams including masking, using sanitizer and standing at least six feet apart at all times.
“Volunteers must wear a mask at all times while volunteering. The mask must fully cover from the nose and under the chin and either be snuggly tied behind the head and neck or have ear loops. The mask should not be loose. RSVP encourages frequent hand washing and in between hand washings, the use of hand sanitizer,” said Centre County RSVP Director Brenda Reeve.
Those interested in joining should call the Centre County RSVP Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (814) 355-6816.
