Sierra Streams Institute

Programs

Our work is divided into six program areas

To learn more about a program, move your cursor over the appropriate image above. For a more complete description of a program and its related projects, click the coressponding image.

Q: Why are insects crawling over this page?
A: These benthic macroinvertebrates (bottom-dwelling stream bugs big enough to see without a microscope) tell us a great deal about water quality.

Training

Sierra Streams Institute has developed considerable expertise in all aspects of running a rigorous citizen monitoring program, and we have exercised regional leadership in using science and data to guide watershed restoration and policy making. Dedicated to sharing this expertise, we offer less-experienced groups training in watershed research, water-quality monitoring, benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and identification, bioassessment, data analysis, habitat restoration, applying for grants and securing funding, volunteer training and recruitment, working with local and regional governments and agencies, compliance with regulations, organization development, and capacity-building.

Watershed Restoration

Gold mining, residential development, road building, agriculture, and other activities have left Sierran watersheds with a variety of lasting impacts that compromise water quality and the ability of streams and landscapes to provide all-important ecological services. Active restoration is necessary for correcting these problems. Our restoration efforts include the following: abandoned mine remediation, salmon habitat restoration, invasive non-native species removal, restoration of native vegetation, geomorphological restoration, and integration of traditional native practices.

Science Education

Sierra Streams Institute created its science education program to meet the critical need for citizens well-versed in the concepts and methods of science. Recognizing that our watershed offers the perfect setting for making science relevant and exciting, SSI partners with local schools to offer field-based science education and classroom instruction in watershed-related science topics. SSI also writes watershed-based science curriculum materials, offers classes for home-school students, and conducts several types of science enrichment activities.

Research

Watershed science is at the confluence of biology, geology, hydrology, chemistry, and physics. It also involves more specialized subfields such as restoration ecology, limnology, soil science, environmental remediation, and fluvial geomorphology. Watersheds therefore offer rich opportunities for expanding our knowledge of basic natural processes and interactions; even more importantly, watersheds and streams are increasingly being recognized as ground-zero in our efforts to adapt to the ongoing effects of global climate change. Working from our foundation of scientific expertise, we seek to become one of the regional leaders in watershed research by undertaking studies, publishing papers, presenting at conferences, and sharing data with universities and government agencies.

Lab and Testing Services

Because most regional groups have the capacity to perform only the most rudimentary lab services in-house, our ability to do mercury analysis and benthic macroinvertebrate identification work is unusual—if not unique—among watershed groups in the Sierra Nevada region. Our services include water quality monitoring, chemical assays, benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and identification, and analysis of mercury and other heavy metals.

Friends of Deer Creek

Activities specific to our home watershed of Deer Creek—monitoring, restoration, watershed protection, mine remediation, and the like—are considered part of this program. Formerly framing our identity as Friends of Deer Creek, these activities still constitute a core part of our mission; they simply take place now within a larger geographic context.

Sierra Streams Institute is a watershed monitoring, research, and restoration group based in Nevada City, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Our mission is to link water, science and people for the benefit of human and environmental health. Founded in 1995 as Friends of Deer Creek, SSI has grown to become an important voice in the regional scientific community—but we are still proud to call Deer Creek our home watershed.

Publications

Our featured publication:

The Bug Book

A Guide to the Identification of Common Aquatic Benthic Macroinvertebrate Families of California and Western North America

The newest edition of our noted identification guide. Learn more and buy the book.

More publications

News & Notices

The Centennial Dam
Yes, SSI does have a position on the proposed dam: follow the data. Read our letter to the Army Corps of Engineers.
Grizzly Hill DROPS project
Devin Cormia, co-director of SSI education, explains how the raingarden works to Grizzly Hill second-graders. Check out The Union's article to learn more about the project.

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Learn more about our current projects

Get your hands wet!

We have many opportunities for participating in citizen science and restoration projects. Click one of the buttons to the right or visit our Get Involved page.

Volunteer Amphibian monitoring portal