Category: Blog Post

Blog Post, Fellowship , ,

Meet Molly McKeon

by Ogeechee Riverkeeper January 17, 2023

Meet ORK’s 2023 research fellow

My name is Molly McKeon. I am originally from Michigan, near Detroit. I attended Wayne State University and earned my bachelor’s degree. I’ve worked in freshwater systems since 2019.

I specialize in macroinvertebrates, which are organisms within the river such as aquatic insects, crayfish, mussels, etc. A lot of my work is spent identifying these organisms taxonomically and using that data to look at the bigger picture of the water quality.

I am going to be looking at the Ogeechee River in a similar fashion, but I will be taking it a step further and using long term data as well as my own. My research will focus on three main sites that I can monitor over the course of the next year.

I will also be performing standard water quality tests, chemical, and bacterial monitoring at these sites following the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream protocols. I’m excited to begin this journey with the Ogeechee Riverkeeper and all of you.

Blog Post, Educational , , , ,

Winter in the Georgia Woods

by Ogeechee Riverkeeper January 9, 2023

Watch the video clip of Mel taking a tour through the woods:

Supplies:

  • Guidebook (any plant or animal kind based on where you live) and/or smart phone with one of the apps listed
  • Weather appropriate clothing
  • Boots/hiking shoes
  • Small net if you are near a creek
  • Bottle of water

Using a guidebook or a citizen science app (Seek, iNaturalist, eBird, etc.), walk through a patch of woods, in your backyard or a nearby park, and survey the area. Feel free to also bring a notebook and jot down things you notice or sketch a cool plant or bug! Really take in all the smells, sights and sounds of the woods in the winter season. Because many plants are dormant in the winter, it can be easier to see through the woods and make observations. If you’re near a creek or small waterway, you can use a sampling net to scoop leaf litter and look for macroinvertebrates or fallen seeds from nearby trees.

Safety: Never trespass and always be aware of your surroundings. If you are at a wildlife management area or public lands where hunting is allowed, make sure to wear orange until hunting season is over. Follow a path and do not go deep enough into the woods. You can use a compass, trail map and drop a pin on your smartphone if you are in an unfamiliar area. *This activity can be done in a small wooded area where getting lost is not a concern*. After your walk, check for ticks as they look for warmth in the winter months.

Submit your photos to info@ogeecheeriverkeeper.org or tag us on social media.

Activity is open to all ages and can be combined with other activities to meet Georgia Standards of Excellence in Science and Language Arts. Standards of Excellence will depend on the grade level of participants.

Blog Post, Educational , ,

Water Filtration Activity

by Ogeechee Riverkeeper December 5, 2022
via USDA Forest Service

This activity will show you how to use the scientific method to filter water.
*DO NOT drink any of the water in this experiment.*

Before you start this activity, come up with a statement of purpose and hypothesis.

  • Why is water filtration important?
  • What materials do you think will filter water the best? 

Supplies needed: Different size funnels, coffee filters or cheese cloth, sand, clean rocks, empty bottles, water with a little mud or dirt added.

  1. Set up your station with 3 cups/empty containers.
  2. Put a coffee filter inside of a funnel (try out which size works best) over each cup/empty container.
  3. Add sand to one, clean rocks to another and leave the last one empty.
  4. Try to filter the dirty water through each and discuss your findings.

Which one works the best? Did it match your hypothesis? Do you think plants would help filter it even more? What is the water cycle and which part of it is filtration related to?

Vocabulary: 

Riparian Buffer – an area next to a waterway that has natural plant growth.
Hypothesis – an educated guess followed by a scientific experiment to test it out.
Water Cycle – describes how the water on Earth is always changing forms (solid, liquid, gas) and moving between Earth’s layers.

McAuliffe-Shepard Blog

Send us your photos at info@ogeecheeriverkeeper.org.

Activity is open to all ages and meets the needs or can be combined with other activities for the following Georgia Standards of Excellence: Science. Activity can also be used in conjunction with Georgia Project WET activities.

  • S3L2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the effects of pollution (air, land, and water) and humans on the environment.
  • S4E3. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to demonstrate the water cycle.
  • S6E3. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to recognize the significant role of water in Earth processes.

 

Blog Post, Press Releases ,

RELEASE: ORK announces winners of annual photo contest

by Ogeechee Riverkeeper December 5, 2022

12/5/2022 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ogeechee Riverkeeper
Contact: Meaghan Gerard
Communications and Administrative Director
meaghan@ogeecheeriverkeeper.org

OGEECHEE RIVERKEEPER ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST

Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK) has chosen the best photographs from across the 5,500 square mile watershed submitted for the annual photography contest. Judges sorted through images that highlighted what makes the Ogeechee and Canoochee Rivers, and the surrounding areas, ecologically and aesthetically remarkable.

The 2022 winners are: 

Black and White: Big Splash, Don Howe
Funny Wildlife: Great Blue Heron Waving, Janet Strozzo Anderson
Landscape: Fall in the Coniferous Swamp, Vivian Lynch
Plant life: Pink Muhly Grass, Charlotte Landon
Wildlife: Great Blue Heron, Christian Scott
Honorable Mentions:
Autumn Cypress Pond, Wesley Hendley
Ogeechee Palette, Gretchen McLeod
Sunrise, Len Kramer

All winners and honorable mentions are available to view at ogeecheeriverkeeper.org or via the Flickr album. ORK has permission from the photographers to share their work. Contact ORK for files to reprint or share in publications.

About Ogeechee Riverkeeper: Ogeechee Riverkeeper 501(c)(3) works to protect, preserve, and improve the water quality of the Ogeechee River basin, which includes all of the streams flowing out to Ossabaw Sound and St. Catherine’s Sound. The Canoochee River is about 108 miles long and the Ogeechee River itself is approximately 245 miles long. The Ogeechee River system drains more than 5,500 square miles across 21 counties in Georgia. More at ogeecheeriverkeeper.org.

***

2022 Annual Photography Contest

Blog Post, Press Releases , ,

RELEASE: New research fellow at ORK plans year-long monitoring project

by Ogeechee Riverkeeper November 14, 2022

11/15/2022
Ogeechee Riverkeeper
Contact: Meaghan Gerard
Communications and Administrative Director
meaghan@ogeecheeriverkeeper.org

NEW RESEARCH FELLOW AT OGEECHEE RIVERKEEPER PLANS YEAR-LONG MONITORING PROJECT
The annual ORK fellowship provides research opportunities in the watershed

The 2023 ORK Research Fellow is Molly McKean, a graduate student at Georgia Southern University (Statesboro campus), pursuing a master’s degree in biology. She works in the lab of Dr. Checo Colón-Gaud. She worked as a research assistant under a National Science Foundation Research Experience for post-baccalaureate grant for a year prior to joining the master’s program in August 2022.

McKeon will conduct a year-long monitoring project focused on an upstream site at Rocky Ford, a site at the soon-to-be closed textile plant, and a site where Black Creek meets the Ogeechee River downstream of the new EV plant development. “Monitoring these sites particularly will help contrast and compare how the upstream site will compare with these two downstream sites and the health of the river,” McKeon says.

McKeon is a first-generation college student from the Metro Detroit area in Michigan. She started out her higher education journey slightly later in life. She first started attending community college courses, as well as working full time, in 2017. Her bachelor of science degree in biological science, with a minor in environmental science, was earned in August of 2021 from Wayne State University. While there, she worked with Dr. Donna Kashian in her aquatic ecology and ecotoxicology lab.

McKeon has participated in the National Science Foundation’s Instars and Emerge programs for underrepresented students and early career fellows in STEM fields. She has a passion for urban community aquatic ecology and taxonomy work.

Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK) created a year-long research fellowship in 2022. The fellowship is underwritten by investments secured from the 2011 fish kill settlement.

About Ogeechee Riverkeeper: Ogeechee Riverkeeper 501(c)(3) works to protect, preserve, and improve the water quality of the Ogeechee River basin, which includes all of the streams flowing out to Ossabaw Sound and St. Catherine’s Sound. The Canoochee River is about 108 miles long and the Ogeechee River itself is approximately 245 miles long. The Ogeechee River system drains more than 5,500 square miles across 21 counties in Georgia. More at ogeecheeriverkeeper.org.