About 600 people from state, federal, local and tribal agencies, academia, volunteer monitoring organizations and the private sector attended the Sixth National Monitoring Conference in Atlantic City, N.J., from May 18 to 22.
Hosted by the Water Environment Federation and the National Water Quality Monitoring Council (NWQMC), the conference featured over 250 presentations, 30 technical posters, 50 exhibits and many workshops, short courses and field trips on topics as varied as new water sensor technology, data management and the Water Quality Exchange (WQX), bacteria monitoring and large scale coastal monitoring programs.
A highlight of the conference was the presentation of the 2008 Elizabeth Jester Fellows award to Tony R. Olsen of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Health and Environmental Effects Research Lab in recognition of his role in monitoring programs that characterize water quality using randomly selected sampling sites. In addition, the YSI Foundation presented its 60th anniversary "Minding the Planet" award to the Columbia Riverkeeper. Alan Steinberg, Regional Administrator of EPA Region 2, spoke at the closing plenary.
Source: EPA
