The Official Blog of Alabama Water Watch
By Sydney Zinner
Big news! AWW Director Mona Dominguez has been honored with one of Alabama Rivers Alliance’s highest accolades—the River Hero Award!
Mona’s dedication to protecting Alabama’s waterways has made a lasting impact, and we couldn’t be prouder! AWW staff, along with her husband Ariel and daughters Amelia and SJ, were there to celebrate this well-deserved recognition at the Alabama Rivers Alliance Water Rally at Camp Beckwith in Fairhope, AL back in March.
By: Dana Herren and Sydney Zinner
Volunteer Trainers Dana Herren with Logan Martin Protection Association and Jacksonville River Monitors, and Jonathan Kelly of Wild Alabama, and Volunteer Trainer Intern Jecca Shumate-Thomason with the University of Montevallo, led an Alabama Water Watch Bacteriological and Water Chemistry Monitoring Field Day in Anniston, AL on Saturday, March 22.
They were joined by several program partners who supported the training: Carver Community Center, West Anniston Foundation, Coosa Riverkeepers, Choccolocco Creek Watershed, Wild Alabama, and the Jacksonville River Monitors.
Check out the 2024 Alabama Water Watch Annual Report to see all of the AWWesome achievements of AWW’s Volunteer Monitors, Trainers, Association, and program partners.
If you would like a text-only accessible PDF version of the report, please contact awwprog@auburn.edu
By: Mona Dominguez
AWW Program Director Mona Dominguez was invited to join a panel on Volunteer Citizen-Science Coordination at the 2025 Invasive Species Ambassador Training hosted by Wild Spotter, a nationwide program mapping invasive species. Read on for a recap of Mona’s experience and more about the Wild Spotter program.
Alabama Water Watch is seeking nominations from program participants and partners to recognize outstanding volunteers.
Nominations will be open through March 5th. Winners will be notified at the end of March and will be presented with their award at the 2025 AWW Annual Meeting in Foley, AL on Saturday, June 21.
By: Mona Dominguez and Emily Ward
Vanessa currently serves as the DeKalb County Extension Coordinator, however, she previously held the role of 4-H Youth Development Coordinator in Jackson County. While in Jackson County, Vanessa was actively involved with the 4-H AWW program for three years, where she provided hands-on environmental education in classrooms, organized water monitoring day camps, and led instruction for homeschool groups.
By: Emily Ward and Mona Dominguez
Kacy Cobb is a 9-12th grade teacher at Hamilton High School in Marion County. She has been sharing 4-H AWW with students through the school’s Environmental Club for over a decade.
In 2017, Kacy, along with fellow Hamilton High School Science Teacher Dustin Murray and Rebecca Danley, 4-H Youth Development Coordinator with Marion County were recognized as the 4-H Alabama Water Watch Club of the Year!
By: Brianne Minton
What/ Who is Alabama Drought Reach?
Alabama Drought Reach (ADR) is a statewide drought communications and outreach program focused on improving our understanding of how drought impacts Alabama.
The program is a collaborative partnership between the Auburn University Water Resources Center, the Alabama Office of the State Climatologist, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System with additional support from the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Stations.
The ADR motto is to stay aware and be prepared. Drought can occur at any time and have major impacts on all areas of life within Alabama.
Read on to learn how citizens can engage with drought impact reporting in their communities.
Continue reading “Citizen Science through the Alabama Drought Reach Program”By: Mona Dominguez and Emily Ward
The Master Environmental Education Program (MEE) is an outreach program of the Baldwin County Extension Office. This group of MEE Educators work as 4-H Resource Volunteers, a 4-H Agent, and a 4-H Agent Assistant in Baldwin County Schools and the Baldwin County Extension Office.
Ashley Campbell, Baldwin County Environmental Manager and Amy Newbold with the EPA Gulf of Mexico Office, proposed an Alabama Water Watch lesson to the MEE facilitators who approved the addition. AWW drafted an interactive and educational lesson to convey the importance of water monitoring and how even students can become citizen scientists. AWW, Campbell, and Newbold trained the first sets of volunteer educators who taught the AWW lesson to students for the first time during the 2018-2019 school year. With help of Extension Staff, including Sarah Butterworth, Baldwin County 4-H Youth Development Coordinator, it has been part of the repertoire ever since.
The program trains volunteers to teach nine lessons in schools and community groups about some of the area’s most critical environmental issues. Each lesson includes an outline, activity, glossary, background information, and correlations to the Alabama Course of Study for Science.
AWW Staff interviewed Cathy Banning, Administrative Associate, with the Baldwin County Office, who provided some information about the program and its impact on the community. Read on for more details!
Continue reading “4-H AL Water Watch Spotlight: Master Environmental Educators “