Mike Beck and Lisa Turner from the Society for Ecological Restoration at VCU demonstrate a stream monitoring technique using benthic macro-invertebrates.

May 19, 2016

Cleanup project led by VCU staff member beautifies Henrico County stream

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By Brian McNeill

Mark Jeffries, production manager for the Virginia Commonwealth University Student Media Center, organized a stream cleanup in Henrico County over the weekend, at which 31 volunteers filled 15 large bags of trash, and hauled away four car tires, a child’s sled, a patio chair, corrugated metal and one vintage Polaroid camera.

“I have adopted the stream through the Virginia Adopt-A-Stream Program in memory of my father, Norman T. Jeffries Jr., who was director of Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District,” Jeffries said. “He was very involved in stream conservation and restoration … So, I have dedicated this project in his memory.”

A young volunteer holds a leopard frog.
A young volunteer holds a leopard frog.

Jeffries, who also teaches Graphics for Journalism in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture in the College of Humanities and Sciences, has been conducting stream cleanups and educational programs for 11 years.

The cleanup on Saturday was held at Woodman Park and involved beautifying Hungary Creek. “We have also adopted the park where we stage the event as a part of the Henrico County ‘Because We Care’ program,” Jeffries said.

Along with collecting garbage, the cleanup featured several educational and conservation initiatives.

An official from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries led an aquatic life inventory using an electro-fishing device, with which the volunteers identified one leopard frog, two chub, two pirate perch, four redbreast sunfish, two largemouth bass, 10 Bluegill, two crayfish, one mosquito fish, one American eel and one bullhead catfish.

Lisa Turner, Rusty Sprouse and Mike Beck from the VCU student organization Society for Ecological Restoration introduced the volunteers to a method of stream monitoring using benthic macroinvertebrates, and a conservation specialist from the Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation District helped conduct water-quality testing on the stream.

The project is continuing this week, Jeffries said, including testing the stream’s dissolved oxygen and pH levels, installation of two bluebird houses and installation of an Adopt-A-Stream sign.

The volunteers pulled 15 bags of garbage, four car tires, a child’s sled, a patio chair, an old Polaroid camera and a large sheet of corrugated metal away from the stream.
The volunteers pulled 15 bags of garbage, four car tires, a child’s sled, a patio chair, an old Polaroid camera and a large sheet of corrugated metal away from the stream.

 

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