On October 15, The Voice of Pelham featured a community-based coastal monitoring program called Niagara’s Visual Assessment Survey Tool (VAST), which is a collaboration between Niagara College, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and the Niagara Coastal Community Collaborative.
The program asks community members – dubbed ‘citizen scientists’ in the article – to help monitor the changing conditions of the Lake Erie shoreline by submitting photos and other data to help identify problems and inform future action required around the effects of erosion, invasive algae and other threats.
The program is currently seeking volunteer participants to submit photos, measurements and other valuable observations about the shoreline using stations set up along the coast specifically for VAST.
Annie Michaud, a professor in NC’s School of Environment and Horticulture, is quoted in the article about the value of community-based initiatives like VAST and the unique learning opportunities they provide for students.
