Students have been collecting water quality data throughout Western New York through the Day in the Life” program since 2013. Through this program- modeled after the successful “Day in the Life of the Hudson River”- hundreds of students collect water quality data at sampling sites throughout the Niagara River/Lake Erie watershed on one day to create a snapshot of the watershed. 

The compiled data- including turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and macroinvertebrate measurements– is shared online so students can see how their piece of the river fits into the larger watershed. Data is also uploaded to NASA’s GLOBE database.