World Water Monitoring Day was celebrated across the world on September 18th and EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassadors joined in the celebration by hosting over 30 water monitoring education programs and watershed restoration events reaching over 2,000 students in communities across the country!

Taking their credo from EarthEcho partners at Xylem Watermark, “#LetsSolveWater” was the rallying call for these young conservation leaders as they led virtual and in-person events to connect community members to their local waterways. Each event impressed the importance of taking action to address the global water crisis starting in our own backyards.

Highlighted events include:

-Abrielle Brown’s presentation for a local Girl Scout Troop of about 20 participants. Abrielle engaged the Scouts in conserving water resources and gave participants the opportunity to monitor water quality through the EarthEcho Water Challenge.

-Chloe Hunt organized a series of online environmental trainings focused on watershed health and conservation for local students in her community.

-Emma Bolton made her video debut on her Emma's Seeds of Kindness Facebook page with “Show Me Your Trash” a social media commentary. She walked through how to do water quality testing and interviewed both Emma Housman, Program Manager at Xylem Inc., and Carmen Bruno, Recycling Coordinator for Hernando County.

-Joey Goldstein and Emma Kavanaugh teamed up and engaged their organizations – Saving Ocean Life and the St. Thomas Aquinas Surfrider Youth Club respectively, to host a virtual water monitoring program reaching 100 high school students in south Florida.

-Maya Weikert engaged local youth in her neighborhood in a water monitoring program at a local park. Participants learned about water quality, the movement to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 and discussed ideas to improve water health in their local communities.

-Gia Ramos celebrated World Water Monitoring Day by creating a new online video series, “Girl Innovation Talks”, and hosted an interview with oceanographer Andrea Contreras to highlight the connections between water quality monitoring and ocean conservation.

-Audrey Berlie led a virtual water monitoring activity and an interactive Kahoot game for students to learn more about water quality monitoring and its importance to their local environment.

-Amelia Fortgang and Nicolas Lama teamed up to host a workshop for the virtual Bay Area Youth Climate Summit, educating students from across the country about the important role of citizen science in protecting our water planet.

-Reece Whatmore and Harper Campbell taught a virtual third-grade marine science class. The class completed water quality testing and examined ocean protection efforts before signing a pledge committing to protect the ocean.

-Sara McElroy’s virtual presentation for sixth graders at her elementary school alma mater! Sara explained the importance of water quality and water monitoring especially in regions experiencing water scarcity. Students created their own DIY testing kits and did some water quality testing of their own.

-Valentina Flores, Gianna Tomassini, Valerie Heredia, and Carlos Rodriguez gave several presentations to students at their school about water monitoring, conservation with EarthEcho International, and the #OceanEcho30x30 initiative. Presentations reached 126 students with 7 students completing water quality testing on a local water body for community service hours!

-Chloe Wetzler celebrated World Water Monitoring Day by hosting a virtual screening of the film "Brave Blue World" to engage her peers in learning about the critical role we all play in addressing the global water crisis.  

-Tarin Fung created a virtual presentation on the importance of ocean conservation and marine protected areas, as well as the role of citizen science in monitoring local water quality, to share with students in his community.

-Ronnie Cunitz hosted a virtual World Water Monitoring Day event for over 150 Girl Scouts from across Hawaii, helping them earn their Citizen Scientist Journey.

-Ariana Negrón hosted multiple events in Puerto Rico, engaging local youth and community members in water quality monitoring through a live, virtual experience.

-Kyra Stillwagon shared her knowledge of water quality with local 3rd and 4th grade students at her school, leading an interactive program for participants to monitor water quality and learn more about the importance of protecting local waterways.

-Sarah Emerson celebrated World Water Monitoring Day hosting a series of educational water monitoring activities for 65 7th and 8th grade students over the course of four days.  

-Max Guihur organized a webinar for students highlighting the importance of water conservation and monitoring. Through his event, he also created a video explaining the water monitoring process to share this experience virtually.

-Veronica Atamyeyeva organized an interactive water monitoring program for local students – allowing participants to learn about the challenges facing the ocean, participate in a water testing demonstration, and brainstorm solutions to waterway conservation challenges.

-Andie Malone worked with a local group of kindergarten students to learn about the importance of water and where it comes from, before engaging in water quality monitoring.

-Claire Cohenuram organized a combination of in person and virtual events, including a socially distanced program at the Mill River outdoor classroom, allowing participants to learn more about water quality and conservation while conducting water quality monitoring. Her efforts are setting the stage for a long-term monitoring program at the Mill River site.

-Mykaela Barnes hosted celebrated World Water Monitoring Day hosting a virtual moving screening and game night – featuring the film “Brave Blue World” and interactive games highlighting water science/trivia.

-Jack Kincus worked with local students and classes to host on demand viewing of educational content focused on water monitoring and marine protected areas, and equipped his peers to lead water monitoring efforts in their local communities.

- Braden McPhillips teamed up with YLC member Greyson Graham to organize a series of virtual World Water Monitoring Day activities - including a presentation for a local school and interactive live streams highlighting the importance of water quality monitoring.

-Iris van der Veen created an interactive video about her water monitoring work, which was ultimately screened to Environmental Science students at Gulliver Preparatory School, providing an opportunity for students to learn more about the topics they were covering in class through this interactive experience.

-Sophia Wu organized an outreach event at her local park – sharing information on EarthEcho and engaging children and families in water monitoring demonstrations.

-Reid Chapman joined three classes of 4th graders at his school during their unit on the Chesapeake Bay, allowing participants to learn more about Bay conservation and engage in testing the water quality of samples collected from the Chesapeake Bay.

-Ivanya Johnson organized two screenings of the film “Brave Blue World” to college classes Hawaii, allowing participants to learn more about the global water crisis. She also led a discussion on the film, EarthEcho, and opportunities to take action to protect local waterways.  

-Mariana I. Fernandez, Naiomie Garcia, Eliudes Camps teamed up to combine their World Water Monitoring Day event with a community beach cleanup! Participants learned more about the OceanEcho 30x30 campaign, picked up 15 bags of trash, and monitored water quality in local lagoons.

-Charlie Madden combined his water monitoring program with a trash clean-up at a local park. Through this program, he joined fellow high school students to monitor water quality and cleanup trash, while sharing more about the OceanEcho 30x30 campaign and the importance of protecting our water planet.

Be sure to check out EarthEcho’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages for more highlights from these events!

Want to join in on the action? It’s not too late! Host your own water quality monitoring event in your school, community, workplace, or with your family!  Visit www.monitorwater.org to order an EarthEcho Water Challenge test kit, collect and share your water quality data through our global database, and make a plan to protect your local water resources!