Starting a Volunteer Monitoring Program

• River / Lake /Coastal Biology
• Hydrology / Limnology
• River / Lake / Coastal Chemistry
• River / Lake / Coastal Ecology Statistics (for trend analyses)
• Local River / Lake / Coastal Uses and Problems
• How State Agencies Work
• Business Environmental Compliance
• Laws and Regulations
• Data Management Compliance
• Field and Lab Methods
• Data Interpretation

2. Where to find TAC members:

• EOEA Watershed Team Member
• Scientists at universities and community colleges
• Local Conservation Commission Member
• Town Water Department Supervisor
• Town Recreation Director
• Businesses who use the water body for discharge or profit (industry, rafting business, boat rental business, etc.)
• Old Timer: someone who is very familiar with the watershed today and in the past
• Local Board of Health, or Health Dept.
• Local Planning Board or Planning Dept.
• Environmental Consulting Firm
• Your County's Natural Resources Conservation Service or Conservation District
• Local Non-Profit Organizations such as Audubon
• Any local branch of Fisheries and Wildlife, USGS, DEM, DEP, etc.
• MA Riverways Program

3. Write a TAC Job Description

Clarify what the role of your technical committee will be and write up a job description for it, including how much time you are asking from people. The technical committee should meet when there is a technical issue to resolve, such as reviewing and commenting on your study design, helping you figure out problems with a laboratory procedure, or helping you interpret the results.

4: Ask the resource people you identified in step 2 to serve on the committee.
Give or send them a copy of the job description and be clear as to what is expected of them in terms of their time and expertise. Remember, you're asking professionals to donate services. The least you can do is let them know the extent of the donation you're requesting so they can decide if it's something they can do.

Consider setting up your TAC so that people might have the option of being involved in two different levels. A core group of advisors might meet anywhere from once to several times per year, and might be involved in any or all of the tasks listed above, perhaps even helping to write parts of a study design or project report.

A larger group of advisors might meet only once a year, or perhaps not at all. These people would contribute their expertise via phone or email. This group might be asked to be "on call" to answer technical questions as they come up (e.g. when you can't solve a quality control problem in the lab, or when you are trying to explain odd results you are getting). They might also be sent drafts of study designs or data reports, and asked to provide written comment on them. This larger group of "background" advisors would be selected for specific expertise they possess - either on law, policy or science of watershed ecology and management. For instance, you might have people with expertise in macroinvertebrates, macrophytes, fluvial geomorphology, water chemistry, the State water quality standards, etc.