The Swarovski Waterschool USA: Mississippi River is inviting the community to an upcoming premiere of a compelling new documentary, “WATERSCHOOL,” which brings to life the importance of empowering youth around the globe to become water ambassadors.

Approximately 500 fifth grade students from six different schools and 20 classes gathered at Lewis and Clark Community College for the 16th annual Water Festival, Friday, Sept. 28.

The public is invited to a free Eat, Drink, and Grow Native! Neighbor Nights @NGRREC.

While volunteering at Senior Services Plus in Alton, Thom Rhanor, of Godfrey, noticed damaging erosion near the greenhouse and decided to collaborate with other local experts to find a solution.

The Swarovski Waterschool USA program invites children ages 10-13 to participate in a free, one-week global education program about water, sanitation, hygiene and the environment.

The Swarovski Waterschool USA program is looking for fifth through seventh-grade teachers (formal and non-formal educators) who want to educate their students about water and river systems and engage them in a community action project.

For a day filled with fun and educational activities for the entire family, check out the Two Rivers Family Fishing Fair on Saturday, June 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pere Marquette State Park near Grafton, on Illinois Route 100.

Healthy Streams and Their Ecosystems will dive into how the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center uses macroinvertebrates to determine the water quality of streams across the state.

Alton High School seniors are earning college credit to splash around in the water, all in the name of science.

Lewis and Clark Community College’s National Great Rivers Research and Education Center is a co-sponsor for an upcoming State of Our Water Conference in Chicago.

The Nature Institute is partnering with the Sierra Club, the Great Rivers Land Trust and the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center/Lewis and Clark Community College for this day of live music, local food, nature activities, and more.

Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, IL will host an information-packed, half-day native landscaping workshop with expert presenters who will explore the relationships between woody plants and pollinators, songbirds, and other important wildlife.

Neighbor Nights are back after a brief holiday hiatus.

An oil spill caused by an unknown source has occurred in Chicago’s Bubbly Creek—the southern fork of the Chicago River’s south branch—but the spill is not anything new for the Great Lakes area.

Join the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center to explore wetlands and amphibian conservation from 5:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the Jerry F. Costello Confluence Field Station.

Plant Manager Bruce Murphy, right, presents a donation of $1,000 from Veolia North America to Environmental Educator Allison Rhanor for the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center’s annual Water Festival.

Those curious about how animals move and why animal movement is important are invited to the September Neighbor Night @NGRREC from 5:30-8 p.m. Sept. 5 at the Jerry F. Costello Confluence Field Station, 1 Confluence Way in East Alton, Illinois.

Swarovski Waterschool Educator Elizabeth Flotte is inviting educators to be among the first participants in the official launch of the Swarovski Waterschool USA Mississippi River program, which joins the team of global programs along the major rivers of the world.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) and 1 Mississippi invite local citizens to participate in Wood River Watershed Day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at Steve Bryant Community Park in Bethalto.

Those curious about the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) now have the opportunity to meet some of the staff and explore the Jerry F. Costello Confluence Field Station at 1 Confluence Way in East Alton, Illinois.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) plans to conduct a controlled burn of portions of the Palisades Nature Preserve near Grafton in mid-March, weather permitting.

The Captain Planet Foundation, an organization dedicated to funding educational programs that give students hands-on, project-driven learning experiences with real environmental outcomes, recently awarded an educational grant of $2,500 to Lewis and Clark Community College, which will use these funds toward the Illinois RiverWatch Mussel Project launch.

The Illinois RiverWatch Network is offering Illinois citizens and educators the chance to train to become citizen scientists and join the network of more than 250 volunteers throughout the state who monitor water quality of Illinois streams. A series of one-day RiverWatch volunteer training workshops will be held throughout the state March 18-June 3. The workshops will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and combine both lecture and classroom time with field training in a local stream.

Louisiana fifth graders received some much needed flood relief from their peers in Illinois last month.

Lewis and Clark Community College’s National Great Rivers Research and Education Center will be home to the newest Swarovski Waterschool, the first and only one located on the Mississippi River and the first in the United States, at the confluence of three great rivers.

One of two Green Leaf Achievement Awards in Youth and Education was awarded to the Illinois RiverWatch Network by HeartLands Conservancy April 19. The Illinois RiverWatch Network is a statewide, non-profit, volunteer stream monitoring program. Volunteers are trained and certified to monitor and protect local streams.

The Grow Native! Southwestern Illinois Event Committee hosted nationally renowned award-winning author Doug Tallamy last week during a workshop at the N.O. Nelson Campus of Lewis and Clark Community College in Edwardsville.

The Grow Native! Southwestern Illinois Event Committee will present an exciting lineup of speakers, featuring national award-winning author Doug Tallamy at its sold out ‘Native by Design: Landscapes Beyond Beauty’ workshop Feb. 26 at the N.O. Nelson Campus of Lewis and Clark Community College in Edwardsville.

The Illinois RiverWatch Network is offering Illinois citizens and educators the chance to train to become citizen scientists and join the network of more than 250 volunteers throughout the state who monitor water quality of Illinois streams.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center is officially the gold standard in sustainable building. Its Jerry F. Costello Confluence Field Station was recently awarded LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Center for American Archeology, National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) and Illinois State Museum invite researchers, students, educators and the general public to view research poster presentations of the REU students’ findings from 2-4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, at NGRREC’s Jerry F. Costello Confluence Field Station, located at One Confluence Way, East Alton, Illinois. Light refreshments will be served.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) and the Old Bakery Beer Company are co-hosting an evening with The Mississippi Valley Traveler, Dean Klinkenberg, at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 23, at the Old Bakery Beer Company in Alton, Illinois.

Thirty interns from 20 colleges and universities and 12 states across the country were at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center’s Jerry F. Costello Confluence Field Station May 26-29 to kick off their summer internships.

Looking to expand beyond traditional monitoring activities, the National Great Rivers Research and Education (NGRREC) Center has launched the Great Rivers Ecological Observation Network (GREON).

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) deployed its seventh buoy in the Great Rivers Ecological Observatory Network (GREON℠) on Carlyle Lake on May 6, 2015.

John Chick, an aquatic ecologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey – University of Illinois, and the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, will be the guest speaker during a session of the Piasa Palisades Group of the Sierra Club Speaker Series at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 8, at the First Unitarian Church of Alton, which is located at 110 East Third Street.

In early summer, boaters and anglers may notice several new buoys in Navigation Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River in Wisconsin. The new buoys will house water quality and weather monitoring equipment and are being set up by river scientists from the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, who are partnering with the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center’s Great Rivers Ecological Observatory Network project.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) is requesting proposals for research projects, which can utilize the mesocosms at the Jerry F. Costello Confluence Field Station in East Alton, Illinois.

The device is a water quality monitoring buoy that researchers with the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) and the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, have recently tethered to the bridge.

The Center for American Archeology (CAA), National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) and Illinois State Museum (ISM) are pleased to announce the first year of the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) site.

A series of RiverWatch volunteer training workshops will be held throughout the state this spring and summer. The workshops will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and combine both lecture and classroom time with field training in a local stream.

he National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) is continuing its weekly seminar series with a presentation on wind turbines and bat mortality, given by NGRREC℠ Field Technician Rachael Van Essen at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) and Lewis and Clark Community College hosted the Hypoxia Task Force (HTF) Fall 2014 Public Meeting Oct. 20-22. The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force holds public meetings twice a year throughout the Mississippi River Basin to inform the public of the progress toward minimizing hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) is proud to welcome Ecologist Anthony Dell to its research team. Dell, who spends his days running field and laboratory experiments, analyzing data and writing scientific papers, was hired in fall 2014.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) is proud to welcome Terrestrial Wildlife Ecologist John Crawford to its research team. Crawford was hired as a senior researcher in NGRREC’s terrestrial ecology program in fall 2014. Crawford conducts wildlife-related research focused on non-game animals – mainly amphibians and reptiles.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠) will be hosting a weekly seminar series, featuring scientists from around the world. The seminars will be held at 3 p.m. every Thursday at NGRREC’s Jerry F. Costello Confluence Field Station in East Alton and are open to the general public.