Oh, Hell-grammite! Good Quality.

More than two decades ago, a group of soon-to-be-high-school students accepted an invitation to act as citizen scientists. Extending the invitation were Patty Gillespie, a high school teacher, and Suzy Lawler, a junior high school teacher, who had discovered a program supported by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The teachers initiated a plot to trick the students into doing science willingly; they would involve them in Illinois RiverWatch.

Teachers Gillespie and Lawler knew that the program’s hands-on educational component would help their students gain skill in scientific analysis, but little did they know that it would be another aspect of the program which would afford the youths an important mindset for life.

First came an introduction to the program, which at the time (year 2001) was a component of the EcoWatch Network, a project of the Critical Trends Assessment Program coordinated by the then IDNR Division of Energy and Environmental Assessment. The teachers paraphrased for the youths the program’s objectives: “educating and informing citizens about ecology and importance of streams, involving citizens in protecting the health of streams, and acquiring data that could be utilized by scientists in assessing dynamic stream ecosystems.”

The youths read that a stream’s physical, chemical and biological characteristics respond to natural and human-caused events and that the effects of such events can be measured by analysis of the aquatic and riparian habitat. “We can measure the extent to which these conditions have affected a stream by observing the number and type of organisms living in the stream …” (Stream Monitoring Manual, February 1997). Seeing the kids’ eyes light up, Gillespie chucked and whispered to Lawler, “They like the idea of wading in a creek and exploring under rocks for critters.”

Would the youths be dissuaded by the prospect of hours of training and study in preparation, Gillespie wondered. Plus, the work at the stream would be done on a Saturday. Yet, eight young teenagers jumped at the opportunity. They would become Illinois RiverWatchers. The designated stream would be Range Creek, a tributary of the Embarras River.

After gaining entry permission from a landowner in Jasper County, Gillespie and Lawler led the research team through brush and brambles, over blooming violets and growing ragweed, past patrolling twelve-spotted skimmers (dragonflies) and buzzing biting deerflies, and around – as wide a berth as possible – stinging nettle.

The youths observed landscape features and noted the channel’s riffles, runs and pools. Among the provided data sheets was a blank page labeled “Site Sketch.” Seeing that, the youths pointed to the team member named Sarah, whom they knew to have an artistic inclination. On the Habitat Survey Sheet, the youths recorded time and weather, described the bottom substrate and noted water appearance, turbidity and odor. Eager youths waded into the creek. They measured the stream’s width and depth, watched how long it took an orange to float 10 feet downstream, and then calculated water velocity. With dip nets in hand, the youths began their search for water critters. At a snag area one youth held a sturdy stick and scraped at a submerged log while the other, who was positioned a short distance downstream, captured the dislodged material in a dip net. At a riffle a “netter” and a “kicker” worked together: one youth held the net’s lower edge flush with the stream bottom allowing the current to push water through the net, while the other, who was positioned upstream, scuffled and kicked at the stream bottom to disrupt the substrate and send aquatic organisms toward the net. Larger rocks were examined for the presence of clinging organisms.

On a sandbar at streamside, the youths peered into their buckets full of water and collected critters. Of course, there were dares about holding the pinchers-waving crawdad and “oo-yuck” about touching the rather large leech. But, a big segmented, dark brown insect larva with many lateral appendages and an impressive set of prominent pincers or mandibles took center stage – center stage that is until the youth, who had checked the identification chart, dropped his pencil into the bucket and dramatically grumbled, “Oh, HELL-grammite!” Laughing at the theatrics, another youth read from the manual and announced, “Dobsonfly. It’s the larva of a dobsonfly, order – Megaloptera. A hellgrammite is classified as ‘intolerant’ which means it is highly susceptible to the ill-effects of water pollution.” The youths cheered, “Range Creek has good water quality!”

Later utilizing Sam Parr State Fish and Wildlife Area’s office building as a lab, the young RiverWatchers worked to identify the macroinvertebrates (“macro” – observable without the use of a microscope, “invertebrates” – organisms without backbones). Among the many insect species that they collected were the nymphs of dragonfly, narrow-winged damselfly, mayfly and even stonefly. There were larvae of several fly species, such as cranefly and midge, and larvae of predacious water beetles.

With field work and lab work done, several other tasks loomed, such as completing the sketch, calculating stream discharge and biotic indices, checking the thoroughness of recording requested information onto the data sheets, placing macroinvertebrates into containers, and mailing. One youth, Sarah, stepped forward alone to complete those tasks.

A follow-up letter, received by the teachers, indicated that the youths’ stream assessment would enter a statewide database maintained by the IDNR and would help scientists ascertain environmental conditions.

Just as the teachers had hoped, the Illinois RiverWatch program had caused the youths to discover stream ecology and to ponder environmental concerns. Yet, it was another consequence of the youths’ involvement that proved most life-impacting, especially for one of the youths.

For Sarah, the experience of volunteering seemed to have been enthralling. The next summer, the teachers saw Sarah helping paint a mural in the high school cafeteria. In 2004 Sarah joined adult citizen scientists to again monitor Range Creek. Later years, at nature centers, Sarah worked as a volunteer, developing displays, helping children explore outdoors – including finding macroinvertebrates, of course – and conducting adult workshops about natural botanical dyes and fabric art. Sarah took on leadership roles in community organizations. Volunteerism became a calling.

Twenty-three years since her first volunteer experience, Sarah is still at it. Truly, Illinois RiverWatch stirred in her an altruistic inclination, a good quality! Over the years, her volunteerism has served to promote art appreciation and awaken ecological awareness, often simultaneously; so has her vocation. Sarah illustrates and designs for OutdoorIllinois Journal and other publications within the family of Wildlife Illinois websites. Now, National Great Rivers, formerly National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC), supports RiverWatch, and Sarah Marjanovic is an Natural Resources Multimedia Design and Outreach Coordinator for National Great Rivers.