Belleville Citizen Science Day 2020 Honors Upper Sugar River Watershed Association
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Marian Viney
Last year, we joined 100,000 other citizen scientists in libraries across the country helping Cornell University advance Alzheimer's research by playing the Stall Catchers video game.
The community is invited to celebrate Citizen Science Day on Saturday, April 18, 2020, from 9:00 a.m.-Noon, at the Belleville Public Library (if it reopens by then). This year's celebration will bring all generations together to honor one of the longest-running citizen science efforts in our area: the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association (USRWA). Through hands-on activities and discussions with experts, participants will have opportunities to experience what these citizen scientists do, and learn why they do it. Light snacks will be provided.
Since 2007, the USRWA has been organizing volunteers to monitor agricultural impacts on water quality and invasive species by gathering periodic data from up to 20 distinct sites upstream of Belleville. They have trained hundreds of volunteers and were instrumental in establishing the Lower Sugar River Watershed Association, which monitors sites downstream of Belleville. Farmers, developers, and policy makers rely on the USRWA to determine which activities endanger our drinking water, our soil, our ecosystem, recreational opportunities, and ultimately our local economy. Since 2017, USRWA has also monitored mussel populations, thus empowering the DNR to measure the success of interventions designed to restore watershed health.
"This is the fifth year in which our nation is celebrating Citizen Science Day," said Bronna Lehmann, Director of the Belleville Public Library. "But it is the fourteenth year in which the citizen scientists of the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association have faithfully monitored our watershed. It is high time for our local Citizen Science Day celebration to honor that legacy."
If the library does not reopen before April 18, the celebration will be rescheduled, but you can also send a note of appreciation to info@uppersugar.org or Upper Sugar River Watershed Association, PO Box 314, Mount Horeb, WI 53572.
Millions of people participate in citizen science each year. If you are stuck at home, makers can participate in online citizen science projects to address emergency COVID-19 needs (ranging from development of masks and test kits to other needed medical equipment). The development of designs for do-it-yourself equipment can be especially important to countries with less access to commercial supplies or anywhere a professional system is overwhelmed. For the longer-term, anyone can help Harvard researchers track diseases like COVID-19 via "Flu Near You" at https://scistarter.org/nlm/flu-near-you-nlm, and software developers can help build open software to track contacts automatically so our society will be less vulnerable to pandemics in the future.
Citizen Science Day is an annual event celebrated around the world to raise awareness of science which is conducted for fun or for moral reasons, rather than for money.
"The power of citizen science is the massive impact that is made by everyday people, individually and collectively," said Darlene Cavalier, Founder of SciStarter, a website hosting over 3,000 citizen science projects. In previous years, Citizen Science Belleville has hosted Citizen Science Day events featuring Alzheimer's research, climate change measurement, drug discovery, and addressing Zika.
About the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association
The Upper Sugar River Watershed Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit conservation organization that uses education and citizen-based monitoring to support the management of 115 miles of stream in Dane County. Inquiries may be directed to Executive Director Wade Moder at (608) 437-7707 or info@uppersugar.org.
About Citizen Science Belleville
Citizen Science Belleville is an open group of volunteers who meet 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., on the 1st and 3rd Mondays at Grace United Methodist Church, 246 W. Pearl St., Belleville, to conduct replication studies advancing health, relationships, and/or well-being. The board of directors include Chris Santos-Lang (920-747-0335, langchri@gmail.com), Kurt Neumann, Betsy Blum, Charles Martin, and Mary Fritz.
About the Belleville Public Library
The Belleville Public Library is located at 130 S. Vine Street in Belleville, providing safe learning spaces for people of all ages. It offers access to the South Central Library System, as well as internet access, computing, printing, photocopy and fax services, and local collections of books, magazines, audio, and video for both children and adults. General inquiries and comments may be directed to Director Bronna Lehmann at (608) 424-1812 or blvcirc@blvpl.org.
