AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — The Auburn University Water Resources Center and Auburn University College of Sciences and Mathematics were recently awarded an Environmental Literacy for Community Resilience grant from the National Academy of Science’s Gulf Research Program.  

The project — Co-Designing Resiliency: From Monitoring to Making Change with Citizen Science Water Data — focuses on Alabama Water Watch, which is the Water Resources Center’s nationally recognized citizen science program. Financially, the project ranked as the largest of six Gulf Research Program awards in the region, supported by nearly $740,000. 

“I am excited to get this project underway with the help of impactful partnerships and community involvement,” said Alabama Water Watch Director Mona Dominguez. 

The project aims to empower citizen scientists, researchers and other essential partners. Together, they will codesign and implement practical solutions to local water quality issues that threaten community and environmental health. 

Data Collection

Thanks to its volunteers, Alabama Water Watch has built an extensive dataset over the past 30 years. Thousands of dedicated citizen scientists contributed by monitoring water chemistry, bacteriological conditions and biological health in Alabama’s streams, rivers, lakes and bays. 

Alabama Water Watch follows quality assurance plans approved by the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure data credibility. As a result, organizations, including the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, municipalities, and universities rely on Alabama Water Watch datasets to achieve their goals. 

Over the last few decades, Alabama Water Watch has trained approximately 9,000 citizen scientists to collect water data. In fact, water watch data collection was instrumental in regulatory changes for some of Alabama’s most prestigious bodies of water.   

Alabama Water Watch extends its impact all over Alabama. Its datasets guide policy decisions that classified Wolf Bay and the Magnolia River as “Outstanding Alabama Waters.” In fact, its reach designated Lake Martin as the sole “Alabama Treasured Lake.” 

Over time, Alabama Water Watch has offered data interpretation presentations and released waterbody reports. In addition, the program included creation of online water data tools for citizens to better understand and apply their data to protect water quality. 

Seeing the need to better use the current Alabama Water Watch data, the group saw this project as an opportunity to advance the program for now and the future.  

“We feel strongly that this wealth of water quality data remains underutilized, which is resulting in missed opportunities to protect and restore Alabama’s watersheds,” Dominguez said. 

A United Effort

The project brings in faculty expertise from the college’s Department of Geosciences, including professor Karen McNeal and associate professor Chandana Mitra. Both researchers are co-investigators on the grant and play key roles in strengthening the program’s data, technology and community-engagement components. 

In spring 2025, Dominguez discovered the AU Solves hackathon spearheaded by Mitra and McNeal. From that connection, the initiative offered faculty a unique opportunity to tackle real-world problems with focused research. 

Dominguez said she immediately recognized the applicability of the AU Solves model to collaborative solutions for local water quality challenges. She said she was excited to team up with fellow Auburn collaborators Mitra and McNeal on the project. 

“This project is unique because it’s a two-way process. It’s not just us giving information to citizens,” Mitra said. “It’s a give-and-take. We learn from their years of on-the-ground experience, and they get scientific tools that help their work.” 

To achieve the project goal, partners of the center and the college plan to pursue several objectives over a three‑year period. In year one, the team will learn directly from Alabama Water Watch volunteer monitors and other key stakeholders by gathering information through interviews, focus groups and surveys. To deepen the analysis, the team will use eye‑tracking to evaluate navigation of the Alabama Water Watch water data tools. 

The team intends to apply results to pinpoint challenges, such as knowledge and skill gaps that hinder watershed groups from solving water quality issues. To address those gaps, they plan to improve the Alabama Water Watch website and educational products and add a new online course. 

Empowering Citizen Scientists

In year two, the project team plans to expand the hackathon model. Together with these efforts, Auburn researchers tackle local challenges identified by Alabama Water Watch watershed groups across the state. 

“The hackathon brings researchers, students and community partners together to solve real problems collaboratively,” Mitra said. “You don’t have to be a scientist — anyone passionate about water quality can help create solutions.” 

Finally, Alabama Water Watch and partners will utilize the codeveloped plan to integrate strategies into local action plans and Alabama Water Watch’s overall programming. Looking ahead, this guarantees long‑term impacts within the program and strengthens the overall mission. 

“This work is really about strengthening community resilience and empowering citizens to better understand the data they’re collecting,” McNeal said. “They already care deeply about their watersheds, and this project gives them more tools and support to make a difference.”  

Through this program, volunteers get to work directly with Auburn researchers to identify water quality problems in their bodies of water while also co-designing solutions. Additionally, they will help implement community-led protection strategies to safeguard local waterways.   

Through extraordinary partnerships and standout community engagement, this grant ensures Alabama Water Watch can continue its work to create solutions for healthier water in the future.    

“These interdisciplinary collaborations are exactly the kinds of projects that continue to receive support because they bring together scientists, students and community members,” McNeal said. “They show what’s possible when we work across disciplines for the good of Alabama’s watersheds.” 

Learn More

The Auburn University Water Resources Center is a premier institution for watershed education, outreach and research. It is part of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and Alabama Extension. Visit the center’s website to learn more about its initiatives or volunteer as an Alabama Water Watch Volunteer Monitor.