Over the last twenty years, Sierra Streams Institute’s water quality monitoring program has used citizen science to assess the health of the Deer Creek Watershed and engage community members in their local ecosystems. Historically, dedicated volunteers conducted monthly monitoring along eighteen sites spread strategically throughout the watershed. Volunteers measure pH, […]
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The California Naturalist Program seeks to foster a committed group of volunteer naturalists and citizen scientists trained and ready to take an active role in natural resource conservation, education, and restoration. The California Naturalist course will introduce you to the wonders of our local ecology and engage you in the […]
Read More >Life of the Bottom-Feeders in the Shallows and Deeps of Streams Are you interested in learning more about the insects who inhabit our waterways? Join Sierra Streams Institute with guest speaker Dave Herbst on Tuesday March 1st at 6 PM for our latest Virtual Science Speaker Talk. Dave has been […]
Read More >Background and History: The Bear River, flowing from its headwaters to the confluence with the Feather River, spans 73 miles. Its waters are heavily managed through dams and diversions. Though it is one of the more degraded watersheds in the area, the Bear River is one of the least monitored. […]
Read More >Sierra Streams Institute’s water quality monitoring program is not only our longest-running program but the beginning of our non-profit story! We started when a group of concerned community members began monitoring the creek’s water quality during the construction of the Pine St. bridge over Deer Creek. We now have over […]
Read More >Dear Friends, Community Members, and Nevada County Family, I write to you with excitement, gratitude, and humility with an announcement (in case you haven’t heard): We’re back, and we’re more excited than ever to work with YOU. As we approach the new year, we here at Sierra Streams Institute are […]
Read More >Our heart goes out to all in our community who were affected by the River Fire. This fast-moving fire took the community by surprise, and we are grateful to all the firefighters and community members who helped defend our communities. Unfortunately, there was still an immense loss. We want to […]
Read More >I was lucky enough to spend my youth exploring the Sierra Nevada along with all of the National Parks and natural areas of the West. Through these explorations, I learned, fairly early on, the unique and powerful beautify and ecological power of the Sierra Nevada. After years of hiking and […]
Read More >Are you interested in engaging the local community in water quality monitoring and vegetation management? Are you excited by an opportunity to work in the field to eradicate invasive species or help collect water quality data from our local streams? Sierra Streams Institute is excited to announce we are hiring […]
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Sierra Streams Institute is excited to announce we are working and collaborating with Bear Yuba Land Trust on their Garden Bar Preserve Wetland Restoration and Riparian Enhancement Project which was awarded funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board. The Garden Bar Preserve is a 652-acre working cattle ranch that connect of […]
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We are so excited to welcome our new AmeriCorps member, Alex Carey! Alex will be helping coordinate restoration at Deer Creek Ranch, monitor water quality on Deer Creek and Bear River, create and share social media content, dive into our climate change study, and so much more! We’ll let Alex […]
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Earlier this year, our AmeriCorps members set up wildlife cameras at a site in the Deer Creek watershed. We were overjoyed with what we got back. We hope you enjoy these photos as much as we have! A Great Blue Heron taking […]
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Each summer, Sierra Streams hosts about four interns for the summer field season. Interns can expect to monitor wildlife, monitor water quality, collect benthic macro invertebrates (BMI), collect algae samples, process samples and more! Days are spent crawling in the most beautiful streams in Nevada County collecting data that informs […]
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Our AmeriCorps River Scientist, Anna Shampain, is one of the luckiest staff members here at Sierra Streams because her work takes her out in the field quite often. Thankfully, she comes back to the office to share photos and tales so we can all […]
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Each spring and fall, Sierra Streams in partnership with Sierra College puts on the Science Speaker Series the second Tuesday of each month. The talks focus science happening in the Sierra Foothills and Sierra Nevada range. An Experimental Study of Beaver and Beaver Dam Analogue (BDA) Restoration Techniques in Childs […]
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Want to learn more about your local watersheds? Which one do you live in? Where does your water come from? Where does it go? Who do you share it with? How can you contribute to your watershed’s health?
Read More >Photos and Stories from the field by our AmeriCorps, Anna Shampain. This photo was taken at Waldo Bridge at the Spenceville Wildlife Area during a drizzly day last week. The oak woodland had come alive with the rains and there were so many bird calls as we walked Dry […]
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Cameron Wallenbrock Education Coordinator and River Scientist Anna Shampain River Scientist Cameron and Anna served their first day as AmeriCorps members at Sierra Streams Institute on October 28th! They are excited to get to know our amazing network of supporters and volunteers so, they figured they would start with a […]
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