Citizens United To Protect the Maurice River - Rare Species Surveying / 8-3-26

Get hands-on with vital research and restoration initiatives. Join CU Maurice River’s volunteer community science team on the river to have a direct impact on aquatic habitat health!

These community science surveys are part of a larger wetland restoration project on the Wild & Scenic Manumuskin River, funded by Restore America's Estuaries. As part of this effort, volunteers are helping document how the habitat responds to restoration through photo point monitoring, avian surveys, fish monitoring, and other ecological assessments.

Maurice River volunteers will survey the wetlands for rare species occurrences directly from the water, via canoe or kayak. Everyone will be trained on the survey methods in the field on day one.

If you have a boat and a way to transport it, that would be incredibly helpful. While kayaks work fine, surveying from a canoe is generally more comfortable for this work. Canoes carry gear better, offer a higher line of sight for spotting target species, and allow a two-person team to split up data collection and note-taking duties.

As a heads-up for launching, volunteers will be putting in and taking out boats from a floating dock