Students in Marshall University’s Aquatic Assessment class, along with members of several environmental science groups, spent Friday morning learning firsthand how professionals evaluate the health of West Virginia streams.
Garret and his team from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) led a live demonstration of a WV stream assessment, including Rapid Bioassessment Protocol (RBP) scoring. Students worked alongside DEP scientists to estimate stream health metrics—and their results came remarkably close to the professionals’ findings.
The hands-on field experience also included collecting biological samples and identifying aquatic organisms. To wrap up the day, students and DEP staff gave back to the environment by removing a large bag of trash from the study site.
More photos from the day are available on the Marshall University Environmental Science Facebook.