Preparations are being made for Stream Teams 2016

If you see a group of teenagers with clipboards and mud boots hanging around near the streams leading into Beaver Lake this summer don’t be alarmed. They are Pinkerton Academy Students working on a service-learning project known, as Stream Teams and they will be out collecting data in the streams and tributaries leading into Beaver Lake. The Pinkerton Academy Students, many of whom hope to pursue secondary education in environmental science or biology, are using their free time this summer to learn about water ecology, by collecting data that tracks the quality of water that flows into Beaver Lake.

Stream Teams are one of the many goals of the Beaver Lake Watershed Management Plan (BLWMP), which is part of Derry’s Master Plan. Created by a community-based partnership, to work toward the continued improvement of the Beaver Lake Watershed, the Beaver Lake Watershed Partnership (BLWP) used grant money to purchase equipment and fund the pilot Stream Team program.

Meet Micaela, Our 2016 Stream Team Intern

Hello, my name is Micaela Griffin and I am a student at Salve Regina University majoring in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies and a minor in Chemistry. This summer I will be working with Pinkerton Academy students through the Stream Team to test the water quality of Beaver Lake. This is a program I myself was able to participate in the summer before my senior year at Pinkerton. I really appreciated having this opportunity in high school as it allowed me to take what I had been learning in school into the field. I was able to learn water testing techniques and the impact pollutants have on water quality while working in the field cultivated my interest in pursuing a degree in science in college. I am very excited to be working with the Stream Teams once again. I look forward to working with Pinkerton students to teach them how to perform the water tests and to help them understand the importance of the procedures and to become more aware of the importance of protecting the Beaver Lake watershed. I appreciate the opportunity to take part in a program that encourages student interest in the sciences while allowing them to be involved in their community.