Announcements 2025.4.15

[Walker, Jane]

1.) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Events
   ++ Webinar: Creating a Homegrown National Park in Your Home or Community – TODAY, April 15, 2025 (7-8:30pm)
   ++ Webinar: Dragonflies from the Arctic to the Tropics – May 20, 2025
2.) Potomac RiverKeeper Network Events
   ++ Water Quality Monitoring Training Sessions – April 23 & 30, 2025; May 3, 2025
   ++ Water Wednesday: Potomac Fever (Virtual) – April 23, 2025
   ++ Earth Day River Cleanup – April 26, 2025
3.) Call for Abstracts: Mid-Atlantic & the Carolinas Groundwater Conference – Submission Deadline: April 25, 2025; Conference: August 12-13, 2025
4.) Earth Day Staunton – April 26, 2025
5.) Green Drinks – Various Dates
6.) International Plastic Pellet Count – May 3, 2025
7.) American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Awards and Scholarships
-- Various Due Dates
8.) Volunteers Needed: Installation of Living Shoreline Oyster Sill – Multiple Days; May 8-July 10, 2025
9.) Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science (CUAHSI) Announcements – Various Dates, Starting, May 13, 2025
10.) Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) Annual Water Resources Conference – June 3-5, 2025
11.) Seeking Research Sites in James River Watershed
12.) Publication: Smith Mountain Lake Association Dock Watch Program 2024 Report -- https://smlassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Dock-Watch-2024-Report.docx.pdf.
13.) Water Center Jobs Board – https://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/jobs/  
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See recent announcements and learn more about the Virginia Water Monitoring Council (VWMC) at www.VirginiaWMC.org. Feel free to forward these announcements. When forwarding, please acknowledge the VWMC. If you have a water-related announcement of regional or statewide interest, send it to vw...@vt.edu and ask that it be distributed to the VWMC membership. If someone forwarded this message to you, you can join the VWMC for free by sending your name, water-monitoring affiliation (if applicable), and contact information (email address, mailing address, and phone number) to vw...@vt.edu. Thank you to the VWMC’s intern, Logan Flanagan, for developing today’s announcements. 
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1.) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Events – Learn more and register at https://serc.si.edu/calendar/month/2025-04.
   ++ Webinar: Creating a Homegrown National Park in Your Home or Community – TODAY, April 15, 2025 (7-8:30pm)
   ++ Webinar: Dragonflies from the Arctic to the Tropics – May 20, 2025 (7pm-8:30pm)
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2.) Potomac RiverKeeper Network Events – Learn more about these and other events at https://www.potomacriverkeepernetwork.org/events/.
   ++ Water Quality Monitoring Training Sessions – April 23, 2025 (National Harbor, MD); April 30, 2025 (Colonial Beach, VA); May 3, 2025 (Frederick, MD)
   ++ Water Wednesday: Potomac Fever (Virtual) – April 23, 2025 (11am-12:30pm) – Join Charlotte Taylor Fryar to discuss her new non-fiction book focusing on the Potomac River.
   ++ Earth Day River Cleanup – April 26, 2025 (9am-3pm) – Oxon Hill, MD
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3.) Call for Abstracts: Mid-Atlantic & the Carolinas Groundwater Conference – Submission Deadline: April 25, 2025; Conference: August 12-13, 2025 – Raleigh, NC – Seeking 30-minute presentations and 1-1.5 hour panel discussions covering groundwater policy, monitoring, management, development, surface geophysics, MAR/ASR, and communication and outreach are encouraged. Student presentations are welcomed. Learn more and register at https://agwt.org/event/midatlantic-and-the-carolinas-groundwater-conference/. Organized by the American Ground Water Trust.
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4.) Earth Day Staunton – April 26, 2025 (11am-3pm) – Staunton, VA – The event will feature displays, informational demonstrations, and interactive learning opportunities. The Wildlife Center of Virginia will present educational programs featuring live, native wildlife. Other activities include a live beehive, nature crafts, various games, nature touchables, sapling giveaways, and face painting.  More than 30 organizations plan to participate. Learn more at https://www.earthdaystaunton.org/. Organized by Shenandoah Green.
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5.) Green Drinks – People who work in the environmental field meet up at informal sessions. To find a Green Drinks near you, visit https://www.greendrinks.org/
   ++ Virginia Beach – April 27, 2025 (2pm) – Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art for a tour of Duke Riley’s exhibit (https://virginiamoca.org/exhibitions/duke-riley/).
   ++ Chesapeake – April 30, 2025 (6pm) – YNot Italian in Greenbrier. Our guest speaker will be Christina Trapani, the new Program Director for Clean Virginia Waterways.
   ++ Charlottesville -- May 14, 2025 (5:30pm) -- Firefly Restaurant and Game Room
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6.) International Plastic Pellet Count – May 3, 2025 (8am-6pm) – Plastic pellets, known as nurdles, are a plastic raw material less than 5 mm in size commonly spilled into the environment. Join volunteers across America to help clean up local waterways impacted by plastic pellet pollution. Learn more and register at https://environmentamerica.org/center/events/the-international-plastic-pellet-count/. Organized by the Environment America Research & Policy Center.
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7.) American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Awards and Scholarships
   ++ Call for Nominations: AWRA Awards – Deadline: May 7, 2025 – Recognize an individual or organization who made exemplary contributions to the water resources community. Individuals and organizations may nominate themselves. View the list of awards and nominate a candidate at https://www.awra.org/Members/Scholarship_and_Awards/Awards.aspx.
  ++ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Professional Development Scholarship – Application Deadline: May 7, 2025 – Eligible applicants include graduates students, post-docs, and professionals who meet the designated criteria. Learn more and apply at https://www.awra.org/Members/Scholarship_and_Awards/AWRA_DEI_Award.aspx.
   ++ Richard A. Herbert Memorial Scholarship – Application Deadline: May 7, 2025 – This award is given to one undergraduate and one graduate student with exemplary academic performance. Learn more and apply at https://www.awra.org/Members/Scholarship_and_Awards/Herbert_Scholarship.aspx.
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8.) Volunteers Needed: Installation of Living Shoreline Oyster Sill – Multiple Days; May 8-July 10, 2025 – Hampton, VA – Volunteer to help install a 1,000 foot living shoreline oyster sill along the Hampton River. The project will involve placing 4,692 oyster castles, 720 bushels of recycled oyster shells, 650 Natrx Basalt Shell Bags, and 22 coconut fiber coir logs, each measuring 12 feet by 16 inches. Learn more and register at https://www.cbf.org/events/virginia/pine-cone-harbour-project-events.html. Organized by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
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9.) Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science (CUAHSI) Announcements
   ++ Webinars: Proactive Data Management for Post-Field Season Data Success – May 13, 2025 (4-5:15pm) & May 14, 2025 (11am-12:15pm) – https://www.cuahsi.org/events.
   ++ Stakeholder-Informed Spatial Modeling for Hydrologic Sciences Workshop – Application Deadline: May 16, 2025; Workshop: August 18-19, 2025 – Nahant, MA -- https://www.cuahsi.org/workshops/stakeholder-informed-spatial-modeling-for-hydrologic-sciences.
   ++ Hydroinformatics Innovation Fellowship – https://www.cuahsi.org/grant-opportunities/hydroinformatics-innovation-fellowship.
   ++ Instrumentation Discovery Travel Grant – https://www.cuahsi.org/grant-opportunities/instrumentation-discovery-travel-grant.
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10.) Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) Annual Water Resources Conference – June 3-5, 2025 – Minneapolis, MN – Theme: “Water. Place. People” – Learn more and register at https://ucowr.org/conference/. Early-bird Registration Deadline: April 21, 2025.  Organized by the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR).
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11.) Seeking Research Sites in James River Watershed – Researchers at Virginia Tech and UVA are seeking ~6 stream sites within the Upper & Middle James River watershed where they can collect data and connect with ongoing community water monitoring data. Their goal is to create a spatial framework to help prioritize locations for stream restoration.  The researchers would need permission to access the site to collect water and soil samples and to install temporary wells next to the stream (4-inch diameter holes about 6-feet deep with PVC pipe showing above ground - the researchers would remove pipes and fill holes at the completion of the study, which is anticipated to last approximately 1 year and begin in Fall/Winter 2025).  Contact Ashleigh Kirker at aki...@vt.edu or 540-231-1560 if interested in potentially helping with this research project.
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12.) Publication: Smith Mountain Lake Association Dock Watch Program 2024 Report – This report highlights water quality data from the first year of the Dock Watch Program. The program utilized trained volunteers to monitor cyanobacteria activity at 20 dock locations around Smith Mountain Lake. See the report at https://smlassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Dock-Watch-2024-Report.docx.pdf. Learn more about the SMLA Dock Watch Program at https://smlassociation.org/dock-watch-program/.  Published by the Smith Mountain Lake Association (SMLA).
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13.) Water Center Jobs Board – View a listing of current job opportunities and employment resources on the Jobs Board at https://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/jobs/.  Developed by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center (Water Center).
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The VWMC announcements are provided with support from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. Thank you to our sponsor!

You too can sponsor the VWMC announcements.  Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the VWMC to support information updates and other VWMC activities.  Make checks payable to: “The Virginia Tech Foundation” and on the memo portion of the check include “VWMC Fund #872802.” Mail contributions to the Virginia Water Resources Research Center (0444, Attn: Jane Walker) at 210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech; 310 West Campus Drive; Blacksburg, VA 24061.