Michigan Clean Water Corps
Annual Conference

MiCorps Second Annual Conference Proceedings

The second annual conference held October 2 - 3, 2006 at the Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center in Higgins Lake, Michigan presented Michigan’s Clean Water Corps -- MiCorps, a program created by Governor Jennifer Granholm to engage Michigan’s volunteer monitoring community to support the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in collecting and sharing data on the quality of Michigan’s lakes and streams. The conference was an excellent opportunity for volunteer monitoring program leaders, citizen volunteers, and water resource professionals to gather together and share ideas about volunteer monitoring.

The two-day conference featured presentations from regional experts and provided training for both beginning and advanced monitoring programs. The conference covered such topics as getting started in volunteer monitoring, recruiting and retaining volunteers, managing and using your data, fundraising, and designing a monitoring strategy. In addition, representatives from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality reviewed trends in water quality in Michigan’s lakes and rivers and discussed the role that volunteer monitoring data plays in supporting water quality protection efforts.

Dr. Mike Wiley, Professor of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan, provided the keynote address. He discussed the current knowledge of rivers across all of Michigan and presented projections of the future of our rivers for the next 24 years, highlighting where we expect major changes in stream conditions and how volunteer monitoring data should respond to these changes.

Conference Program and Other Documents

Conference Program
(PDF - 147 KB)

Conference Attendee List
(PDF - 127 KB)

Conference Evaluation Form -
PDF (181 KB) or DOC (1,638 KB)

MiCorps Brochure
(PDF - 524 KB)

MiCorps Monitor Newsletter April 2006
(PDF - 995 KB)

US EPA Volunteer Monitor Newsletter

Presentations

Linked below are presentations and handouts from the 2006 MiCorps Conference.

DAY ONE - MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006

Workshop: Getting Started in Volunteer Monitoring

Workshop: Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Identification

Macroinvertebrate Identification Training (PDF - 3,695 KB)
Jo Latimore, MiCorps Support Staff, Huron River Watershed Council, Email: jlatimore@hrwc.org

DAY TWO - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2006

Keynote Address - Mike Wiley, Professor of Natural Resources, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan

Michigan's Watersheds: Where we are, where we're headed (PDF - 280 KB)
Mike Wiley, Professor of Natural Resources, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Email: mjwiley@umich.edu

Introduction and Overview of the MiCorps Program

MiCorps Program Overview (PDF - 369 KB)
Ralph Bednarz, DEQ, Email: bednarzr@michigan.gov
Ric Lawson, MiCorps Support Staff, Huron River Watershed Council, Email: rlawson@hrwc.org

Overview of Michigan's Surface Water Monitoring Program and Trends in Water Quality in Michigan's Lakes and Rivers

Overview of Michigan's Surface Water Monitoring Program (PDF - 1,462 KB)
Kay Edly, DEQ, Email: edlyk@michigan.gov
Ralph Bednarz, DEQ, Email: bednarzr@michigan.gov

Morning Breakout Sessions

Session 1: Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers

Sample PR Materials - Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4, Example 5

Session 2: Managing Your Volunteer Monitoring Data

Managing Your Volunteer Monitoring Data (PDF - 4,107 KB)
Jo Latimore, MiCorps Support Staff, Huron River Watershed Council, Email: rlawson@hrwc.org
Ric Lawson, MiCorps Support Staff, Huron River Watershed Council, Email: jlatimore@hrwc.org

Session 3: Designing Your Monitoring Strategy

Designing Your Monitoring Strategy (PDF - 202 KB)
Mike Wiley, Professor of Natural Resources, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan,
Email: mjwiley@umich.edu

Afternoon Breakout Sessions

Session 1: Fundraising

MiCorps Volunteer Monitoring Grant Application Package (PDF - 458 KB)
Ric Lawson, MiCorps Support Staff, Huron River Watershed Council, rlawson@hrwc.org

Session 2: Using Your Volunteer Monitoring Data and Other Ways to Make Your Program Successful

Using Your Volunteer Monitoring Data (PDF - 280 KB)
Jo Latimore, MiCorps Support Staff, Huron River Watershed Council, Email: jlatimore@hrwc.org
Joan Martin, MiCorps Support Staff, Huron River Watershed Council, jmartin@hrwc.org
Mike Wiley, Professor of Natural Resources, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Email: mjwiley@umich.edu

Handout - Ensuring Success from the Start (PDF - 80 KB)

Session 3: A Watershed Perspective for Lake Monitoring

Glen Lake/Crystal River Watershed Management Plan (PDF - 733 KB)
Howard Wandell, Michigan State University, Email: wandellh@msu.edu
Jim Fackert, Five-Lakes Association, Email: jfackert@cac.net
Scott Brown, Michigan Lake and Stream Associations, Inc., Email: scottb52@hughes.net
John Hayes, Glen Lake Association, Inc., Email: jmhayes@umich.edu

Contacts for More Information

For more information on the MiCorps program or the second annual conference, contact Matt Doss, MiCorps staff, Great Lakes Commission, 734-971-9135, mdoss@glc.org.