12/29/20: Interview with Member of the Watershed

 Name: Gunja

Date: December 29th, 2020

Interview with Member of the Watershed

After doing a river clean up organized by Cameron, a member of the AmeriCorp Watershed Ambassador program, my partner in this project, and I requested to interview him. In the interview, he spoke about his involvement with the organization and his experiences with watershed cleanups. He explained that the Watershed program was run through three different entities, his being run through AmeriCorp and  the New Jersey Department of Environmental protection. His job specifically is data monitoring and collection and he is working alongside the Raritan Headwaters Association in Far Hills, New Jersey. There are 20 watershed ambassadors, one for each of New Jersey's 20 watershed management areas and he is in watershed number eight: North and South Branch Raritan. North and South Branch Raritan also encompasses Hunterdon, Somerset, and a part of Morris County. The Watershed Ambassador program offers free environmental education programs and  partners with schools or organizations like Girl Scouts to kind of offer watershed informational sessions, as well as,  visual and biological stream assessments, Environmental stewardship training, and partnership projects with other organizations. Some of the challenges the wanted shed encountered include the flooding in the highly developed and densely populated state of New Jersey, and invasive species.

In Cameron's presentation he touched upon invasive species and later went into depth about them. He informed us on different types of invasive species and how they grow very fast and block sunlight, take a vast area of underwater habitat for native species and suffocate the area, leaving little to no oxygen for the native species.

We had a couple specific questions that we wanted to ask Cameron. One question we asked him was what caused him to join the watershed? Cameron had previously been working in the energy industry as an energy consultant and part of his work involved working with the vegetation management unit for electric power companies to prevent forest fires. That is what sparked an interest for Cameron. He also talked about his background in water quality issues. He spent three and a half years in Kenya, when he was in college, working with Engineers Without Borders, installing, helping design, and implementing a kind of monitor water catchment system. Cameron grew more interested in forestry and watershed problems and wanted more first hand experience in repairing forestry.

Another question we had for Cameron was asking what the dirtiest body of water or river that he has cleaned or assessed. He found the dirtiest river he has encountered in the Arthur Kill Watershed. Three rivers that he assessed that day were all very polluted and he found items such as shopping carts, tires, and lots of glass in one of the rivers.

We asked about any suggestions for future water clean ups. He didn't have any specific sites in mind however we were advised not to go into water, to use gloves during our cleanups, and to have supervision. He informed us that we could try using our grabbers or long nets to collect trash floating out in the water if it was close enough. If the trash was too far away, heavy, or submerged under that water, a team would be needed to extract the debris from the water. 

Camerons said his favorite part of being in the watershed was, “being on the water, like on the edge of the water, in that transitional zone between land and river.” He disliked staying inside during his previous job. He said he would have to fight in Michigan twice a week, and then sit in a cubicle all weekend, when all he desired was to be outside. Being a Watershed Ambassador fulfilled this desire for Cameron and allowed him to be happy with his career.

Finally, we wondered how being a part of the Watershed community affected his personal life. It doesn't affect his personal life much, besides being busy on the weekends, when most people are free to do clean ups. Overall, Cameron said he was more conscious of how he interacted with the environment around him and how he is impacting his watershed.