 A Letter from the Editor!
Hello, all!
Some of you know me as your Blue Thumb field staff member who comes out to do bug collections and bug pickings! Some only know me as the editor of your monthly eNewsletter and monthly summary. Some of you I have not had the pleasure to meet yet!
For those who do know me, you may have already heard the news that I am leaving Blue Thumb. In fact, when you read this, I will already be in my new place of residence across the country. To me, this is an exciting time, but also a very sad one. I have gotten to know many of you well over my time here with Blue Thumb, and have many memories and stories. Time spent out in the creek with each other is always a fun time to get to know people, and develop unbreakable bonds and moments that you can look back fondly on.
As I head to the next adventure in my life, I will treasure the memories I have made with all of you and the rest of my Blue Thumb team.
It is my hope that this eNewsletter continues on. I was the one who began it, and have been keeping up with it over the past few years. I am very proud of this eNewsletter, and all the people who read it and interact with it. I believe that it has gotten us through some tough times (COVID quarantine months), and allowed us to showcase all the events that Blue Thumb helps out with and connect volunteers across the state with like-minded individuals. I hope that someone continues to write it monthly after I am gone and give it just as much love as I have.
This is my final farewell to all of you. Please continue to do good work and enjoy your time playing in the creek.
Best wishes to you all!
Becky Zawalski
Blue Thumb Field Educator
From the Volunteer Coordinator
Data Webinar – 6:00 p.m. March 9, 2023
What do you know about your data? What do you know about your stream? Blue Thumb’s Kim Shaw and Cheryl Cheadle will offer the webinar “Understanding Data” coming up on March 9. You can access the webinar using this Zoom link. The webinar will also be recorded so folks can access it later. This article will serve as an introduction to that webinar from my point of view.
As I am preparing for this webinar, it occurs to me how BIG the subject of data truly is. When the Blue Thumb Water Quality Education Program came together 30 years ago, the goal was to determine the condition of urban streams in the Tulsa area through data collected by volunteers. Then these same volunteers would help the rest of the Tulsa area citizens understand the condition of the local streams and adopt behaviors and practices that contribute to clean, healthy streams.
To whet your appetites for the “Understanding Data” webinar, I want to share a couple of observations I made from looking at data that I have collected on Coal Creek just over the last few years. I say “I” collected, but I should say my monitoring team and I collected this data. Jeffrey Jenkins and Kim Watson are my monitoring partners, previously Andrew and Mark were my monitoring buddies. My comments concern water chemistry.
Looking at my data, here are my comments:
- Typically YES on Secchi disk resting on bottom. When not, it had just rained. Had I found the best place on the stream for getting the Secchi reading? I think there are better places, if I am willing to trek a little further.
- Four times water temperature and air temperature were the same.
- Monitoring was missed during two years of Covid. Before, I missed monitoring for several months after Mark and Andrew graduated from college and started living the real lives of adults. This is to be expected.
- I missed an additional year of monitoring, with just the occasional monitoring episode now and then. Once my current team-mate Jeffrey graduated from Blue Thumb training in January 2022, we have NOT missed a single month of monitoring. I am one of these people who does better with a buddy.
- My lowest oxygen saturation was 50%, this happened four times.
- There was one extremely high ammonia event.
- A detectable level of Orthophosphate was found about 1/3 of the time. Typically is was undetectable, Continued regular monitoring will be good to keep an eye on this.
- One extremely high Chloride (500 mg/L) was found in September of 2022.
To have this kind of data and to see a bit about what is happening is possible when monthly data gathering is consistent.
From the Water’s Edge – Your Latest Blue Thumb Information!
Your eNewsletter continues to offer the latest information – Watch at the beginning of each month for From the Water’s Edge via your email. Is there something you want to know more about? Email volunteer coordinator Cheryl and she and the rest of the staff will address the topic that interests you.
Special Anniversary T’s
When you come to the awesome “extra events” that Blue Thumb is holding to celebrate our 30 year anniversary, you will receive a special Blue Thumb anniversary t-shirt! The next special event will be held on Earth Day (April 22) as volunteers gather at the Great Salt Plains. Then the next event will be the big Anniversary Celebration at the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks on May 20. Please don’t miss these wonderful events, and don’t miss out on a bright new Blue Thumb t-shirt.
Cheryl Cheadle
Volunteer Coordinator
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