Since 2017, the Water Quality Forum has hosted one AmeriCorps member who collaborates with members from stormwater programs in Knox County, Oak Ridge, Farragut and Lenoir City, as well as the Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District and Ijams Nature Center and other Americorps sites across the region.
In return for the Forum’s support and leadership, AmeriCorps members have energetically and creatively helped the Forum accomplish its mission. In short, the members have been and continue to be true to the AmeriCorps motto: getting things done!
Beginning in 1995, the Water Quality Forum partnered with the Community Action Committee, or CAC, to sponsor members of their AmeriCorps Program. The Forum sponsored a Water Quality Team focused on watershed education. In 2009, the Knox County Stormwater program stepped up to become the sponsor of the Water Quality Team.
Welcome the 2024-2025 Water Quality Forum AmeriCorps Member, Jayne Willard!
Jayne (she/her) joins us from the small town of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. She attended The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.S. Environmental Science, Biology; M.A. Geography). While in college, Jayne completed a summer internship in the Environmental Health Department at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida where she conducted research to mitigate the effects of Karenia brevis, a harmful algae responsible for harmful algal bloom events known as Red Tide. This was where she first discovered her passion for water quality research. Upon returning to school, she began working as an undergraduate assistant in a campus hydrology research lab. She would eventually tailor her degree to focus on wetland ecology, and specifically her favorite builder of wetlands, the North American Beaver. Jayne would go on to complete her masters with a thesis exploring the water quality impacts of urban beaver ponds compared to human-engineered retention ponds. Her work was even featured in a PBS Sci-NC television segment! After graduation, Jayne moved to St. Paul, Minnesota to work for the National Park Service and University of Minnesota collecting data on the herbivory and vegetation impacts of the semi-aquatic rodent. As a strong advocate for science communication and education, Jayne is excited to bring her research background into the program coordination at the Water Quality Forum.
To contact Jayne, send her an email at jayne.willard@waterqualityforum.org!
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