For more than 25 years, the Audubon Naturalist Society has been teaching the natural history of aquatic ecology and training volunteer stream monitors to track the health of our region’s streams. Learn from the experts: study stream science in our introductory classes, and you just might be inspired to become a stream monitor yourself! Our classes are taught by our Maryland Biological Stream Survey-certified instructor Cathy Wiss. To learn more about the classes or becoming a volunteer, contact Cathy.Wiss@anshome.org or visit www.anshome.org/water-quality-monitoring.

Registration & Fee Information

The classes are open to anyone 10 years and older. Prices for all classes are $15 Members/$25 Nonmembers. Waivers are available for those currently in the ANS monitoring program and for middle school and high school students earning SSL credit through their school systems..Registration required.

Know Your Invasive Plants

Saturday, May 30, 9:30 am – 12 pm

Invasive plants that kill or bring down mature trees can seriously alter stream health and ecosystem function. Volunteer Master Naturalist Diyan Rahaman will help you identify non-native invasive plants of central Maryland. An ANS/Rock Creek
Conservancy Partnership. This class will be held online via Zoom. REGISTER ONLINE.

 

Introduction to Stream Science Series (recommended for volunteer water monitors) 

Classroom Session

Healthy Stream Biology

Section C: Tuesday, June 2 (7-9:30 pm)

This class will be streamed online through Zoom.

In the classroom, we will explore how “benthic macroinvertebrates” — organisms that live in the bottom of streams – help us assess a streams’ health. We will learn how to identify these organisms to the taxonomic level of order through a PowerPoint presentation and by watching videos to see their movement. REGISTER ONLINE.

Field Workshop

Section B: Saturday, June 6 (9:30 am – 12 noon)
Ten Mile Creek, Boyds, MD
All participants will be required to wear face coverings and practice physical distancing. This class will be cancelled if the stay-at-home order is still in effect.

In the field workshop, we will visit a stream to practice monitoring techniques and to collect and identify the macroinvertebrates we find.  REGISTER ONLINE.

How to Read Your Stream
Tuesday, June 16 (7-9:30 pm)
This class will be streamed online through Zoom.

Learn about stream character and dynamics, the importance of riffles and riparian vegetation, and the effects of land use on streams. We will use photographs of streams and the forms that monitors fill out in the field to practice assessing stream habitat. REGISTER ONLINE.