“CRV” stands for Coastal Research Volunteer program.
It’s a program for volunteers to become involved with scientific projects
that address environmental issues in the New Hampshire seacoast region.
When they get involved with these projects, the results of what they help to produce will really be used to address problems.
I’m the coordinator, and I work with the Marine Docent Program,
and we all together do the logistics of organizing the volunteers and getting them involved in projects.
My name is Rebecca and I’m an undergrad student in the medical microbiology program at UNH.
Part of what we do is we go test water samples around town.
Yea, I think this might be my calling more than the medical microbiology!
I’ve always been interested in science. I used to be a science teacher back when.
I wanted to do something – give a contribution back to the community, and this is a great way to do it.
I was involved with the Marine Docents, and this opportunity was made known to me.
I went to one of the meetings, and here I am standing in the river!
My name is Kara McKeton and I’m the Oyster conservationist coordinator for the Nature Conservancy.
I got involved with the CRV program as part of my position as a coordinator.
I work with oyster conservationist volunteers who not only raise oysters right off of their docks for restoration,
but are also involved with other coastal research projects.
These past couple of weeks, I’ve been delivering cages full of oysters.
These cages might contain anywhere from a couple hundred to a thousand oysters
which I will deliver to volunteers that live around the estuary.
Our volunteers this season are really excited about participating in the Oyster Conservationist Program,
and growing oysters right off of their docks.
I have people that have been sending me pictures of them, measuring the oysters, monitoring them,
pictures of little critters and creatures that they find living amongst the oysters within the cages.
So it’s a really exciting opportunity to learn hands on about these oysters,
and really start to build a connection with such a keystone species in our estuary.
This project is really important for Great Bay estuary because it involves the community.
It really gives members of the community an opportunity to build a connection with the estuary,
and contribute to improving the health of Great Bay, of the water quality, providing habitat,
and getting that hands-on experience rather than just reading it from a newspaper article.
This is our third summer here in this neck of the woods.
I actually heard about the oyster spat measuring from an article in the newspaper – The Portsmouth Herald.
Any time I move somewhere new I always get the paper to see what’s going on,
and I just immediately jumped on that and that’s how I got involved with the program initially.
But that also was a springboard for so many other things that have opened me up to living on the seacoast,
and learning about the marine environment.
And the wealth and breadth of knowledge that just being here at the research facility has been so great.
You get to really learn first hand. The people who coordinate it are awesome. Questions are always answered,
and I’ve felt very happy just being apart of this.
The people that I’ve met through this are fantastic.
They also got me involved with the UNH Marine Docent Program, which I recently graduated, or “swum up” as they say.
It’s just been a springboard to so many other things, and meeting so many people,
and just learning about the importance of the volunteers in the coastal area and how much they can help,
and just the issues that we’re facing here in having a good healthy ecosystem.
My name is Krystin Ward, and I work here at UNH for Dr. Ray Grizzle as a research technician.
We’ve been working with the CRV volunteers for about two years now, this is our second year.
The volunteers are helping us monitor, count, and measure some of the oysters that we raise here at UNH,
and that will eventually be going to restored reefs out in the bay.
So they’re an integral part in the restoration process.
We have natural occurring oyster reefs here in Great Bay, but they’ve been declining over the years.
We feel that it’s important to restore these reefs, get the oyster population going again.
Oysters are great filter feeders, they keep the waters healthy so that other organisms such as plants like eel grass can come in.
The oyster reef service is a really nice natural habitat for other organisms also like crabs, lobsters,
and other organisms that you’ll find at the bottom of the bay.
We have some volunteers that are with the UNH Marine Docents program,
and we also have Steve Jones, who is also a professor here at the lab,
and who has started this program and is taking volunteers in.
The people that have now been trained are coming to me and saying
‘let’s go out and train other towns’ and ‘let’s get other people from more towns involved’.
We’re not only trained in how to do monitoring, and sample collection
and using meters to make measurements,
but we’re also trained in understanding what’s going on here; what the issue is,
and we can help educate people and do outreach as well.
People can become involved by just contacting us,
and we’ll fit their interests in with any kinds of activities that we’re getting involved with.
We want to do something different,
and we want to do something that is meaningful for all of you out here,
and that also fills a niche that no one else is filling.