Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study

VTSSS 2021 sample anlaysis has been completed, quality assured, and evaluated. A 2-page results brief as well as a presentation (in both PowerPoint and PDF format) are now posted on the VTSSS 2021 website.

https://uva.theopenscholar.com/vtsss2021/results

Thanks again to all the volunteers who made this project a success as well as an enjoyable experience.

Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study 2021 Thank you to all the volunteers for your time and effort. VTSSS 2021 was a resounding success! A summary of results is provided as a brief document and a presentation, in PowerPoint and PDF format.

Reflecting on some numbers that made up a successful VTSSS 2021.

1 State Coordinator (Thanks again Tom Benzing)
15 Collection Coordinators
156 volunteer samplers (at least)
382 sites sampled by volunteers (+72 by other collaborators)
26 volunteers who have participated in prior years
130 volunteers who participated in their first VTSSS survey

That's a lot of effort from a knot* of anglers!
*a group of toads is called a knot

Casting out another 'Thank You!' to Frank Deviney (pictured left). A VTSSS 4-timer, prior database manager/field scientist for the project (still singing his praises here at UVA), straight-talker and always available when the project needs his assistance. Pretty solid credentials, and we didn't even mention bikes. P.S. Happy Birthday.

We want to extend our deepest appreciation and a sincere thank you to Tom Benzing (on right in photo), the Trout Unlimited State Coordinator for VTSSS 2021, Chapter Coordinator for Shenandoah Valley, and volunteer stream sampler. Tom stepped up to the state coordinator position in 2019, and stuck with it through the 2020 postponement to the successful 2021 implementation. Professor, angler, volunteer, and all-around good communicator, Tom does it all and we are thankful to have him on the team.

A few more photos from the field.

Samples patiently waiting in line (you'd think it was BP!) for the first set of analyses (left), which includes pH (right).

A few more VTSSS 2021 photos from the field.

Thanks to all the samplers for sending along site and sampler photos, site updates and notes about your VTSSS 2021 experience. We'll post a handful of photos at a time throughout the week.

VTSSS 2021 concludes tonight with the end of the extended sampling window and we are happy to report samples were collected from all 454 flowing trout streams! We want to extend our most sincere thanks to all who volunteered, trudged around looking for tag trees, with difficulty or ease, and grabbed a sample for this effort. We hope you enjoyed your time exploring the forest and streams, alone or with friends and family.

We'll be back with more pictures, targeted thank you's and updates soon.

The last VTSSS 2021 TU sample drop off occurred on Sunday, May 2, in beautiful Buchanon, VA. Thanks to Heather Davidson, the Mountain Empire TU Chapter Coordinator for transporting her samples, along with samples from Little Stony and Southern West VA TU Chapters. And thanks to Susie Maben, VTSSS laboratory manager, who met Heather and drove the samples back to Charlottesville. They are now preserved in the lab at UVA (thanks John Maben) and in line for analysis.

Great to see Rick Webb, VTSSS founder, UVA Coordinator for 1987, 2000, and 2010 Surveys, and 2021 Highland County Coordinator and volunteer sampler, at the loading dock this morning.
And he's got the plates (or do you say tags in VA?) to prove it!

And they keep coming...thanks to Rodney Minor (Massanutten Chapter TU Coordinator) and Eric Tichay (Smith River TU Chapter President) for dropping off samples today.