Protecting Maine's Waters

Lake Stewards of Maine (LSM) is a non-profit organization that trains over 2,000 volunteers to engage in citizen science to monitor and protect over 500 lakes in Maine. The organization is divided into the water quality program, which includes Secchi transparency and Dissolved Oxygen (DO) monitoring, and the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) program, which conducts surveys to detect invasive species early.

As the Water Quality Intern for LSM, I used ArcGIS software to create a digital dashboard to display over 100 years of ice-in and ice-out data in an intuitive format, accessible to a lay audience. On a day-to-day basis, I helped organize training materials, quality-assure data, and conduct on-the-water training of volunteers. ​

Through this internship, I obtained many tangible achievements including receiving a boating license and becoming certified in Secchi, DO, and AIS monitoring as well as expanding my knowledge of limnology and aquatic biology. ​

This internship also allowed me to experience the environment of a non-profit organization and gain an appreciation for all the behind-the-scenes work that takes place to host our annual lake conference as well as the various workshops that LSM runs across the state of Maine. ​

Internship funded by the Annual Fund for Career Readiness.