Summer Intern Reflections with Emma

Emma sampling for water quality along Antietam Creek mainstem

Emma discussing her projects at the ACWA Summer Meeting

This summer I have been working as an intern for ACWA and have learned a lot about environmental stewardship and the importance of keeping our watershed clean. I started off the summer by helping to place temperature loggers into streams as well as some air loggers. These loggers run all summer long and give an accurate representation of the stream temperatures and the air temperature.

Throughout the summer, I performed water quality sampling in local creeks. The data that was collected from these samples is being used to help connect the public to waterways. I input all of the data we collected for water quality sampling over the summer and it was sent to the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative. It was uploaded to the Chesapeake Data Explorer which is a tool used for storing and spreading data.

Emma (left) working the ACWA table at the Mid-Atlantic Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Conference, June 2023

I also attended the Mid-Atlantic Volunteer Monitoring Conference (MAVMC) where I attended sessions about water quality issues such as PFAS as well as learning about trash cleanups and ways to protect our watershed. While attending this conference, Susan and I had a table where we shared information about what ACWA does.

Some other things I worked on this summer include helping to install brochure holders at local parks which will hopefully draw more attention to ACWA, helping with e.Coli lab work at Hood College, and beginning the process of creating a report card for ACWA.

My favorite part of this internship was doing the stream tests in which I tested for pH as well as phosphates, nitrates, and turbidity by using a colorimeter.

Throughout my internship experience, I gained many skills. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity and I look forward to seeing what ACWA continues to do in the future.