Interactive Mapping:   A Virtual River Experience

A Virtual River Experience is the computer-based component of our environmental education program, the Waterways Stewardship Project. Previously known as the Explorer Project, A Virtual River Experience is currently being updated and revised by Sean McGinnis from Banisch Associates located in Flemington, NJ. It consists of a web-based interactive map and a database that teachers can use to help their students understand and explore land uses within the watershed and how changes in land use can affect water quality and the health of the river ecosystem. Students and teachers can explore the South Branch Raritan River Watershed virtually by using this interactive online map of the watershed and overlaying different pieces of information as needed, such as lakes, streams, rivers, roads, and land use/land cover.

As part of the Waterways Stewardship Project, the school students go into a stretch of the river near their school to collect macroinvertebrate (small critters that usually live on river bottoms) data and complete site assessments (look at the habitat in and around the river) to help them determine the water quality of the river. These school river monitoring site locations will be represented on the map as points. Clicking on their school’s monitoring site on the map will allow students to see and compare all of the previous and current data their school has entered for their site. Teachers will have password access so their students can add the data they collected at their site this year to the database. They can also then compare their data to the data collected by other schools throughout the watershed.

As of now, the interactive map is online, but a few finishing touches still need to be made. The database is in the works with an expected completion date sometime this winter. At that point, it will be ready for teachers to begin entering their data. We plan to offer some form of teacher training and instruction for participating teachers once the site is complete and ready for action.

Although it is part of our Waterways Stewardship Project, the benefits of A Virtual River Experience can be utilized for free by any school within the watershed.