Some Activities

Boardman to the Bay

Building a Watershed during Training

The first "official" Listening to the River team, these 10 teens completed the pilot versions of the orientation and training, field excursion and post excursion data processing.

Orientation and Training
This session focused on getting a better understanding of watersheds, our place in the watershed and gaining a familiarity with the technology tools the Listening to the River teams have to document their watershed. Orientation and Training activities included:

• Mapping your community
• Building your own watershed
• Clueing in about the meaning of watersheds
• Learning how GPS works
• Experimenting with digital photography, audio and video

The Baykeeper talks about Riparian Buffers

Field ExcursionThe Boardman to the Bay field excursion started with lunch at Hull Park on Boardman Lake. From there, we had a tour of the TC Wastewater Treatment Plant with Scott Blair, the Plant Manager. After seeing the treatment process and where the treated water re-enters the waterway, we continued with John Nelson, the Grand Traverse BayKeeper, who led us along the remaining stretch of the Boardman all the way to the mouth.

Along the way, we learned about invasive species, riparian buffers and the importance of managing stormwater in the watershed. The Boardman to the Bay field team used the digital audio, video and photography equipment to capture their experiences along the way, which, when combined with geographic data, will create a new type of watershed map.

Take a look at the field data

Processing Audio Tracks

Data ProcessingFollowing the field excursion, the team had to process the captured data. Stationed in the computer classroom, they used audio, video and photo software to process and polish their raw data. Once processed, the multi-media information was combined with geographic data.