CPRE citizen science volunteer (Herefordshire)
Organisation:
The Countryside Charity (CPRE)
Action:
Take water samples from agreed locations and record observations about the water samples through entering the results into your mobile phone and uploading these to CPRE’s data bank.
By volunteering with CPRE, you can make a real difference as a central part of a friendly and passionate charity that is helping to identify sources of river pollution.
CPRE are looking to build a small team of citizen scientist volunteers across Herefordshire, who want to be part of the solution in helping to reduce river pollution. You don't need any specific experience to join the team, just a love of the countryside and a willingness to get involved. The role is flexible and you’ll be able to choose how and when you support CPRE.
Location:
River Lugg and its tributaries (North and West Herefordshire)
Level of commitment:
Be able to volunteer for around 1 to 1.5 hours per week
Collect water data at specific sampling points on a weekly basis over a 12 to 24 month period.
CPRE will try to find a sampling site closest to where you live but some small amounts of travel may be required.
Training required:
CPRE provide full training that takes 2-3 hours at the start of volunteering and continued support during the role.
Risk assessment and volunteer safety is paramount and this is emphasised during training. Risk assessments are carried out at all sampling sites and volunteers are issued with Method Statements and Field Notes plus Hi-Viz jackets which must be used at all times.
Minimum age is 18.
Kit needed/provided:
Testing water samples, using kit supplied by CPRE
CPRE supply all the tools and equipment needed for all data collection; this includes Hi-Viz wear and hand gel.
Volunteers will need access to a smart phone on which to download the data capture app
Outcome:
CPRE are engaging with a group of organisations including Cardiff University, the Environment Agency and the Wye & Usk Foundation, to provide data about water pollution throughout our county. Once sufficient data is captured and recorded, appropriate action can be taken by the regulatory authorities to help prevent pollution from continuing to damage water quality, reduce fish stocks and threaten ecosystems.
Data is uploaded to a cloud app called Epicollect. This is viewed and used by the EA within their analysis of the Wye Catchment. They publish results in their 6 monthly newsletters. The data is also published by the Wye Alliance as an open data source which can be viewed by everyone. CPRE used a programme called Tableau which converts all the raw data into graphs and charts which can be seen at both a macro and micro level. Every volunteer can see their results at all individual sampling points. https://www.cpreherefordshire.org.uk/news/wye-viz-the-next-step-in-the-fight-to-save-the-river-wye/