About
About Us
It is a pleasure to announce that Community Science Institute’s board of directors and staff have adopted a new mission statement as well as a vision statement for our organization in November 2024!
Mission and vision statements provide a clear sense of direction for an organization. They help guide decision-making, inspire staff and volunteers, and align stakeholders. For a nonprofit like CSI, these statements are particularly important as they help to focus efforts and resources on achieving our organization’s goals.
Mission: To inspire and empower communities to safeguard water resources by cultivating scientific literacy through volunteer water quality monitoring, certified laboratory analyses, and education.
Vision: Communities empowered by science to sustain, protect, and restore our shared water resources.
Volunteer Monitoring Partnerships
We partner with volunteers to monitor water quality of streams and lakes in the Finger Lakes region, the Upper Susquehanna River watershed, and across Central New York. These dedicated volunteers participate in our four monitoring partnerships to collect stream and lake samples for chemical and biological analysis at our certified lab in Ithaca. The data collected through these monitoring partnerships is building a better understanding our our shared water resources and how to manage them sustainably. By partnering with volunteers to collect this data we hope to engage communities in the scientific process, empowering them with the tools and knowledge to act as local stewards of our shared water resources.
Help protect local water quality! Partner with CSI and together we can ensure the protection of our irreplaceable water resources – now and in the future.
Certified Water Testing
CSI operates a state-certified testing lab where we test stream and lake samples for over a dozen parameters of water quality including pathogenic bacteria, nutrients, and sediment. Our certification ensures that the data collected is regulatory-quality and can guide and inform strategies to manage and protect water resources.
Our certified lab also serves the potable water testing needs of the residents, businesses, organizations, and agencies in the community. Click here to learn more about our certified lab or to inquire about testing your water.
Outreach and Education
Alone, the data collected in partnership with our volunteers speaks volumes, but we give it a voice. Through our Outreach and Education initiatives – including our Water Bulletin Newsletter, independent presentations, community forums, and our Journey of Water Youth Education Program – we inform the public about water quality issues, facilitate conversations among diverse stakeholders, and engage the next generation of scientists, activists, and environmental stewards.
Visit our Outreach and Education page to learn more, and be sure to check our online calendar for upcoming events.
Public Water Quality Database
All data collected in partnership with our volunteers is made available to the public through our online Water Quality Database. This cutting edge database holds over 80,000 certified data that can be explored through interactive maps and graphs. These regulatory-quality data can be downloaded free of charge for resident, agency, and local government use.
Are you interested to know the water quality of a stream near you? Explore the Streams and Lakes sections of our database or search for specific water quality data. If you have any questions, or need assistance navigating the Water Quality Database, our Outreach coordinator would be happy to assist you.
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