Cork Brook in Scituate, R.I., isn’t as far inland as you can get from the fabled coastline that gives the Ocean State its name. But, it might as well be.

The stream meanders through protected forest, a rural outpost off the beaten path of the summer tourist throngs, making it a perfect reference, or pristine, study site for the North East Water Resources Network (NEWRnet), a three-state, $6 million initiative to study how climate variations may play a role in water quality and quantity.

Once a week this summer, University of Rhode Island master’s student Britta Anderson and Salve Regina University undergraduates Tyler Torelli and Matt Swartz made the 50-minute drive inland from Aquidneck Island to check the pulse of one of the many tributary streams that collect in Scituate Reservoir, before flowing as one, the Pawtuxet River, into the northern waters of Narragansett Bay.

“Cork Brook serves as the reference point for Rhode Island watersheds,” notes SRU Associate Professor Jameson Chace, who managed the student trio and their NEWRnet work. “Cork is small, but heavily forested, and it lies within the Scituate watershed, which is the water supply for most of greater Providence.”

For contrast and comparison, Rhode Island researchers also are studying two freshwater sources in Middletown, R.I. — Bailey’s Brook, which courses through an urban location, and the Maidford River, surrounded by agricultural land. High tech sensors at both these locations and Cork Brook measure the water quality parameters of temperature, acidity, and chemicals present, data that are particularly useful in understanding what happens during extreme storm events.

Part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Track-2  program, NEWRnet was funded by a three-year grant awarded to Rhode Island, Delaware and Vermont, and now has been continued into a fourth year. URI Professor Arthur Gold, co-director of the CELS Master of Environmental Science and Management Graduate Program, serves as the project director for Rhode Island.

The collaboration in multiple disciplines, from hydrology to economics, chemistry and marine robotics, is gathering data, assessing water quality, and gauging the impact of information on use and management decisions. With the states’ varying local climates, precipitation, and population density, the data compiled will provide valuable insight to both scientists and policy makers.

At the same time, the project offers a unique training ground for graduate and undergraduate students at schools in the three states, in all of the disciplines involved, to gain hands-on research experience.

Throughout the summer at Cork Brook, Anderson, Torelli and Swartz measured indicators of stream health. They took into account physical aspects of the stream and surrounding landscape that might affect the biological and chemical qualities, including a regular sampling of the types and numbers of aquatic bugs present.

Standing streamside one rainy morning in July, Anderson explains: “We count the pollution intolerant and tolerant species to help us understand water quality. For example, stoneflies are pollution intolerant, so their presence tells us the water quality is rather good here. But, on Aquidneck Island, we’ve rarely, if ever, found stoneflies, but generally find the more pollution tolerant species.”

Anderson is pursuing her master’s in biological and environmental science, in the environmental earth sciences track, with a focus on hydrology and watershed hydrology under her advisor, Assistant Professor Soni Pradhanang. She is on track to wrap up her studies May 2017. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, studying environmental sciences, policy and management, worked for a few years after graduation, and then found herself wanting to transition from policy and management to science.

“The Track-2 project provides practice on the concepts I’m learning about in school,” she says. “This last year, I took several classes in hydrology. Now, it’s great to get out in the field and learn how the concepts apply and what they mean for Rhode Island.”

For Torelli, a double major in biology and environmental studies, and Swartz, a biology major with a minor in environmental studies, the NEWRnet project gave them their first crack at hands-on research.

“I love this,” says Torelli, pausing as he records data, gesturing to his wooded surroundings. “It’s far exceeded my expectations, just in how much we’re doing.”

Swartz echoes Torelli, adding: “I’ve definitely learned a lot.”

Both from New York (Torelli, Pottsdam, and Swartz, Endwell), the rising seniors plan to continue in the field, in related areas. Torelli says he might like to do some sort of watershed research; Swartz, having applied to several national parks around the country, says he wants to find an environmentally based job.

Wherever they end up, both students say the Track-2 experience along with workshops and training provided have prepared them well and enhanced their skill sets.

Prior to the start of the summer fellowships, the Rhode Island team hosted about 20 undergraduates from the NEWRnet states for a three-day orientation at Salve Regina that included an introduction to the project, watershed tours, science communication training, and a fish trawl. At summer’s end, the students gathered at the University of Rhode Island to deliver their research findings in rounds of two-minute talks and poster presentations for the 2016 NEWRnet Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Story and photos by Amy Dunkle