Community Science Volunteer Spotlight: Jim and Margaret Rule (UTRCA Weekly, March 25, 2022)

This year, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) will be adding 15 more rain gauges to the Community Precipitation Monitoring Project, thanks to funding from the TD Friends of the Environment Fund. During the pilot year in 2021, the UTRCA worked with 12 landowners to measure and record daily precipitation using the online Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) platform. CoCoRaHS is a community based network of volunteers across North America who measure and map daily precipitation.

Community science engages members of the public in collecting data that can be used to increase scientific knowledge and inform decision making. This practice is widely used in various environmental monitoring projects and programs to track precipitation patterns collect water quality information, survey amphibian, reptile, and bird populations, and more!

Jim and Margaret Rule have been committed volunteers since the beginning of the project and shared their experiences so far.

Person stands next to a rain gauge in his garden

1) How did you get involved with the UTRCA’s Community Precipitation Monitoring project?

“Linda Smith mentioned the water gauge at a Mill Pond meeting last fall and we immediately responded ‘yes’ to this initiative. I am always seeking ways to help out in an environmental fashion.”

2) Why did you want to participate in the project?

“I and my wife, Marg, decided to participate because we believe strongly in the work that UTRCA does for our community and we want to support the staff in their mission to make our environment as sustainable as possible. We also believe in the role of community scientists as they contribute to the environmental integrity and knowledge of our world.”

3) Does the information that you gather benefit you? Is it helpful knowing how much rain falls on your property?

“The results of this initiative have been very helpful as a gardener and as a person interested in the well-being of their property. By monitoring the rainfall in an accurate manner, I can now calculate the effects on the plants in the garden and the trees in the arboretum. Before this initiative, I was never certain of the total rainfall in one specific day…I usually underestimated the amount of rain that actually did fall.”

4) Has any of the information surprised you?

“My biggest surprise was the amount of rainfall that fell during the four months I monitored it. I would never have calculated the total rainfall or recorded it in any consistent manner before this doing this initiative.”

Thanks for participating in the project, Jim and Marg, and thank you to the TD Friends of the Environment for providing 2022 project funding.

Are you interested in the weather? Do you live in any of these rural areas of the Upper Thames watershed: Embro, Granton, Harrington, Ilderton, Kirkton, Mitchell, Sebringville, Tavistock, or Thamesford?

If you answered yes to both, please let us know you’d like to join the UTRCA Community Science Precipitation Monitoring Project. Contact Erin Dolmage, Community Education Technician.

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