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ECO-Monitoring
The ECO-Monitoring project represents a collaborative effort among the VCU departments of Biology, Chemistry and Pathology; 
VCU Life Sciences’ Center for Environmental Studies; and the Charles City County Public Schools, a small, underserved school system supporting a significant number of high-risk African-American and Native American students. Initiated in 2007 with a grant from the VCU Council for Community Engagement, the project was designed to enhance science education opportunities and promote environmental stewardship in Charles City County students.
High school students explored how water quality affects local wildlife and human communities through classroom activities, augmented by field trips to collect data at the VCU Rice Center. VCU undergraduate and graduate students acted as mentors to the students, assisting with data collection, analysis and presentation of results.
The program was expanded in 2008 to include an additional community partner — the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries — and will involve both middle and high school students participating as ‘citizen scientists’ in a pilot population study of Eastern box turtles, a species of conservation concern and one familiar to most school children. Based on the outcome of the one-year pilot program, VGDIF plans to take the program statewide and ultimately engage students throughout Virginia.
Get involved
To support this program or get involved as a volunteer, contact Tom Huff at tfhuff@vcu.edu or Catherine Viverette at cbvivere@vcu.edu.