Development of Inexpensive and DIY Water Sensors to Advance Community-Led Nature-Based Conservation Solutions
Research Location:
Implemented: Madagascar
Conservation Partner:
Conservation International
Student Researcher (2024)
Leo Eichers, Major: Chemistry; Minor: GeologyStudent Researcher (2024)
Jacob Timko, Major: Biology; Minor: BiochemistryStudent Researcher (2023)
Fiona Gordon, Major: Physics, Engineering Physics and Applied DesignStudent Researcher (2023)
Sophia Holincheck, Major: Chemistry; Minor: Computer ScienceFaculty Mentors
Dr. Nathan Kidwell and Jonathan FreyProject Description
A team of William & Mary and Malagasy students is working with Conservation International staff and faculty mentors to develop a low-cost water sensor that will advance community monitoring of watersheds in Madagascar and in Virginia.
To effectively protect nature from the cascading impacts of climate change, local communities need support local communities to design, implement, and evaluate potential solutions.
Nature-based solutions (NBS) have been invoked frequently in recent years to overcome major contemporary water management challenges. Nature-based Solutions (NBS) are solutions that utilize sustainable planning, design, environmental management, and engineering practices to weave natural features or processes into the built environment in order to promote adaptation and resilience. NBS must be coupled with continued monitoring of how interventions affect water ecosystem services and local communities.
Despite successful examples for addressing water issues including water scarcity and water pollution, there are challenges to implementing NBS that constrain them from reaching their full potential to contribute to the sustainable management of water. One of the key challenges is the difficulty in providing clear evaluations of NBS-related project performance. Implemented strategies commonly lack feasible schemes for monitoring and evaluation of outcomes. This is partially because monitoring freshwater variables typically involves very expensive and laborious scientific approaches. There is, therefore, a fundamental need for incorporating mobile, flexible, and cost-effective tools into freshwater conservation programs.
Developing low-cost and convenient methods that communities can use to generate an evidence base for freshwater benefits for large-scale NBS is essential. The use of cost-effective data acquisition techniques via DIY (do-it-yourself) and citizen science will generate knowledge for sustainable water management.
Conservation International (CI)'s Priceless Planet Coalition Project supports Malagasy communities in restoration efforts that promote socioeconomic benefits to their communities. In partnership with communities (Indigenous peoples, local communities, and youth), CI hopes to empower these groups to become water monitoring champions. This is crucial because the sustainable use of NBS for the protection of freshwater depends on the creation of community-based monitoring schemes that ensure the effective participation of society in water management.
In support of the Priceless Planet Coalition Project, a team of William & Mary students and Malagasy students are developing state-of-the-art tools and methods to gauge freshwater co-benefits derived from NBS. These students are working with CI staff, faculty from the W&M Chemistry Department and the W&M MakerSpace to develop a low-cost, accessible turbidity water sensor that can be used by Malagasy communities to aid in their restoration efforts.
Access to information and the production of knowledge through monitoring carried out by society is an important tool for improving water sustainability. The aim is to explore how the availability of such probes allows the effective participation of stakeholders in water management.
In 2025, the student team will develop the next phase of the sensor and will also work with James City County to pilot the sensor in restoration sites locally.
A video of of the project, 2024. Video by Virginia Johnson
