 What inspired you to get involved with Blue Thumb?
I hadn't heard of Blue Thumb until a couple of Blue Thumb staff came to Alva promoting a training workshop. I've always been fascinated by streams and rivers. I thought volunteering would be a great way to learn more about the streams of northwest Oklahoma and get some students involved.
What do you enjoy most about volunteering with Blue Thumb?
Sampling benthic invertebrates is my favorite part of volunteering with Blue Thumb. Working with and learning from Blue Thumb staff is another important reason I continue to volunteer.
How long have you been with the program?
I started monitoring in the fall of 2020.
Is there a memorable moment or lesson from your time with Blue Thumb that stands out?
The most memorable moment was my first benthic sample. It was a cold winter day, and I didn't have any insulated waterproof gloves. Those were the longest minutes of my life, scrubbing vegetation in ice cold water! I bought some very soon after that! Going with one of my students to do his first benthic invertebrate sample at his site on Spring Creek was another great moment. We were amazed at the differences in species composition between our two sites. Finally, getting to do the fish collection on the Salt Fork was certainly another highlight. We had to repeatedly reschedule due to high water conditions. Getting to see orangethroat darters made the wait worthwhile!
Steve Thompson
Blue Thumb Volunteer
March 10-14, I had the pleasure of attending the 2025 National Monitoring Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The conference occurs every other year and is organized by the National Water Quality Monitoring Council. The conference showcases water quality monitoring research generated by federal agencies, state water quality monitoring programs, tribes, contractors and nonprofits. Volunteer monitoring (VM) is an integral part of the conference. In addition to many presentations about volunteer monitoring, the conference includes a VM networking session, exhibit booth, meeting and dinner. Each year there is a 5K run to support scholarships for local volunteer monitors to attend the conference.
This year Blue Thumb was awarded the 2025 Vision Award, our first national award!
The National Water Quality Monitoring Council’s Vision Award recognizes a monitoring council or group that has demonstrated extraordinary vision and cooperation in the field of water quality monitoring on a local or regional level to enhance the management and protection of aquatic resources.
We were selected for this award because of the amazing work you do each month. Please celebrate with us! You can watch a clip of the awards ceremony here.
Rebecca Bond
Blue Thumb Director
It’s a WHOLE Ecosystem Sort of Thing
Right now is a good moment to be talking pollinators, especially butterflies. With the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to list monarch butterflies as a threatened species, this butterfly is making the news, as it should.
When you plant native species, you restore Oklahoma landscapes to pre-development conditions, at least to some degree. You create a food source for pollinators, host plants for larval insects, and healthy soil that pulls water into it.
When you choose not to use pesticides you give insects a fighting chance at survival. Famous entomologist, educator, and author E.O. Wilson called insects “the little things that run the world.”
When you let your mowed areas grow a little taller you create a healthy root system that allows more infiltration, thus precipitation stays on your lawn, nourishing your plants and reducing runoff downstream.
When you talk helping pollinators, you talk about these subjects too:
- Clean streams, rivers, and lakes
- Cooling an overheated planet
- Finding beauty in restoring landscapes.
Blue Thumb is a water quality education program. How many paths are there to educating about clean water? Don’t try to count, just be sure you are part of the conversation. This is an important moment.
Meaningful Moments
It is early in the spring, but the Blue Thumb staff has hit the ground running by being a part of some great education events! Here are a few things that are popping to the front of my mind…
University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond – Hunter and I met with the Biological Methods Class twice – once indoors where we talked about what Blue Thumb is and reducing nonpoint source pollution. The second time was at Chisholm Creek in north Oklahoma City where the volunteer who monitors there, Beverly Woodrome, talked with the students too. Maybe you saw the post on Facebook. What made the day so special? The students were very into seining and enjoying the fish and bugs!
Butterflies, Birds, and Bees OH My! - In public libraries in both Grove and Jay. People showed up specifically for these events, and help from NE Oklahoma volunteers, Valerie, Kathryn, and Alex, added diversity to the lesson. Native seeds, fish printing, and the EnviroScape made both of these mini-workshops popular. We made sure to encourage children and adults to explore the cool information on the back of the fish prints.
Cheryl Cheadle
Blue Thumb Volunteer Coordinator
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