FLOW - Amigos de Bolsa Chica

FLOW is a Water Quality and Plankton Monitoring program that is run by the Citizen Scientist volunteers of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica.

FLOW meets every Friday at Bolsa Chica State Beach and the time we meet depends upon the tide schedule (here is the schedule through June 2017: http://amigosdebolsachica.org/pdf/FLOW_schedule_oct16-june17.pdf)
Each week we take samples from the tidal inlet and the ecological reserve, study those samples under microscopes (looking for harmful phytoplankton), perform chemical analysis and send our samples to California's Department of Health.
We also provide our program for free to students in 6 - 12 grade and to college students. Our citizen scientist volunteers run these programs and we work with teachers to provide a meaningful educational experience for students in which they get to have a hands-on field trip, doing everything our volunteers do during our normal FLOW volunteer days.
In addition, we have quarterly field trips for citizen scientist volunteers to add to their depth of knowledge and a monthly seminar series that is free to the public.