FreshWater Watch is Earthwatch’s global citizen science project to investigate the health of the world’s freshwater ecosystems on a scale never seen before.
Citizen Scientists’ contribution to this study is vital - without it we won't be able to test the quantity of locations or the number of times that we need to create projects that will have a high impact in tackling the freshwater challenge. To read about the impact our citizen scientists had in the first 18 months of FreshWater Watch, click
here.
The programme operates on two levels:
LEVEL ONE: GLOBAL DATA
We have global data questions which are consistent in every location around the world. So if you’re testing at rivers in Rio, lakes in London, streams in Sydney, beaches in Buffalo or ponds in Paris you know that you are doing exactly the same as FreshWater Watchers everywhere.
The data tests and observations can be summarised as below:
Research Question
- What are the causes of the loss of freshwater quality?
- Why are freshwater ecosystems degrading?
Research Purpose
- To better manage and protect the world’s freshwater.