Up-to-date stats on STREAM plus upcoming Webinar Series
The STREAM (Sequencing The Rivers for Environmental Assessment and Monitoring) project was able to demonstrate how resilient community-based water monitoring can be in uncertain times, like those we’ve been experiencing due to COVID-19.
For the 2020 field season, STREAM project participants from across Canada were able to submit 223 samples to date (and still counting), which were collected from 102 sites. Although Living Lakes Canada was supposed to facilitate trainings in Whitehorse, Yukon; Kenora, Thunder Bay; and Ottawa, Ontario in 2020, travel restrictions and social gatherings were not permitted. Therefore we adapted and held more local courses in Western Canada including:
- Nelson, BC
- Binche Keyoh, BC
- Coleman, Crowsnest Pass, Alberta
Our goal for the upcoming 2021 field season is to facilitate STREAM/CABIN training for the communities that we were unable to visit in 2020. For more information, please visit the project website: stream-dna.com or email raegan@livinglakescanada.ca.
The key deliverable of STREAM is the generation of DNA biomonitoring reports, derived from DNA data collected by community groups and organizations. STREAM aims to process and analyze DNA samples within two months of sample submission (subject to current volume of samples awaiting processing). Lab closures due to COVID-19 delayed sequencing & analyses for remaining 2019 samples.
Statistics to date on the STREAM program include:
- 41 reports sent out to participating groups since Year 1 (2019) of the project
- 821 samples collected
- 13 reports from the 2020 field season , these should be distributed to participants by the summer
This map represents the number of samples collected across Canada for the STREAM project in 2021, however as more samples continue to come in, the map will continue to evolve to show a more accurate depiction of where the samples were collected. Credit: STREAM
STREAM Webinar Series
Starting on March 25, 2021, Living Lakes Canada will be hosting a four-part STREAM webinar series. The purpose of this four-part webinar series is to introduce the STREAM project to anyone interested in community-based water monitoring.
VISIT THE REGISTRATION PAGE FOR FULL DETAILS
Four webinars will feature 13 guest presenters, including members from the STREAM project team providing updates on successes and challenges and what’s in the works for 2021, and Environment and Climate Change Canada providing an overview of the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network methods that are the foundation of STREAM. The webinars will also showcase STREAM participants, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, from BC and Alberta, and highlight what kind of monitoring questions they are addressing through their local biomonitoring programs.
VIEW/DOWNLOAD THE POSTER AS A PDF
All four webinars will take place from 10am-11am PT/11am-12pm MT/1pm-2pm ET.
March 25 1: Introduction to STREAM – REGISTER HERE
April 8: Introduction to CABIN – REGISTER HERE
April 29: STREAM Users – Featured Case Studies – REGISTER HERE
May 27: Indigenous-led STREAM projects – REGISTER HERE
