Superior Rivers Watershed Association is seeking volunteers to assist with fall aquatic invertebrate (bug) monitoring fieldwork. No experience necessary – all equipment and training provided!

This training session will teach you what you need to know about collecting aquatic invertebrates for our water quality monitoring program. The session will be held on Zoom and consist of a Powerpoint with instructional videos and a Q&A with our volunteer coordinator Mariana. We will hold a Friday, October 9th 6:30pm session and a Sunday, October 11th 2:00pm session for our monitoring window of October 10th-October 23rd.

IF YOU HAVE PARTICIPATED IN TRAINING BEFORE, YOU DO NOT NEED TO AGAIN. Please contact us at info@superiorrivers.org to volunteer during the monitoring window or fill out this form in the applicable answer below.

Please sign up for one of the training sessions below. We will email you the Zoom link prior to the session.



Help a local non-profit collect important data about the water quality in our local streams and rivers.

Structure and Schedule of 2020 Monitoring *Designed to follow social distancing guidelines for the health of our communities*

Sampling Window: October 10th-23rd

- Volunteers will attend one of the two online training sessions or coordinate with Superior Rivers for independent training.

- Volunteers will be asked to team up with one or more members of their household, if possible, to conduct the fieldwork during the window of October 10th-23rd.

o For safety reasons, we prefer volunteers do not work alone. A member of the same household is preferable as a sampling partner so as to adhere to social distance guidelines. If this is not possible, call us to discuss how you may safely conduct sampling alone or at a safe distance with a mask from a non-household member sampling partner.

o Work with us to choose one or more site to monitor once during the sampling window. Fieldwork takes roughly 4 hours to complete. We will try to pick sites as close as possible to the volunteer’s home.

- Equipment pick-up and drop-off will be set up with volunteers individually to best suit the volunteers’ needs, and precautions will be taken during this process to encourage safety relating to COVID-19.

Though we have in the past, we will not be hosting group ID sessions in the lab or group training sessions. Training materials and guidance will be provided based on volunteer’s individual needs and preferences.

Optional: After you complete the fieldwork, you can still help out with the ID process from home. Request information and equipment for sorting specimens from your sample jar into smaller containers based on physical similarity (and even by Order or Family when possible).