Volunteer at FBA
We welcome volunteers at FBA and we are happy to discuss how your skills and interests could support our science, training and advocacy work based at our sites in Cumbria.
Become a volunteer citizen scientist!
Citizen Science is defined as “when the public participates voluntarily in the scientific process, addressing real-world problems in ways that may include formulating research questions, conducting scientific experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and interpreting results”.
FBA is leading the development of freshwater citizen science approaches in Cumbria and throughout the UK.
No matter where we live our lives are affected by water quality. Water quality issues raise many questions that are important to us all at some point or another. For example, will we get sick if we swim in this river? Why are wild trout disappearing from our becks? Why does the water in our local river or lake look unusually murky, discoloured, or even remarkably clear?
Perhaps one of the most important questions for freshwater citizen scientists to ask is: How do we know if our water environment is healthy?
To put it simply, healthy water is water that can support and sustain life.
“Water quality” is a blanket term for how the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of a water sample measure up to a set of standards.
Citizen Science is not a new concept, for example the Anglers Monitoring Initiative (Riverfly) has been running since 2004. There have been many groups of individuals who have gained a better understanding of their local environment through on the bank sampling and analysis (dip strips, nets, etc). This grassroots effort has delivered some great outcomes for rivers and has been undertaken by super-committed folk who care enough about the state of their local environment to act.
At FBA we are developing new Citizen Science approaches to deliver even more impact, build bridges of learning between professional scientists and academics support volunteer groups and enable them to;
address gaps in knowledge and increase understanding of the pressures facing our freshwater ecosystems.
drive better and faster outcomes for the environment.
Our Citizen Science projects are there to support increasing numbers of dedicated, organised and supported grassroots community activists.
Together, we can deliver big outcomes for the environment and people!
