Protect Your Local Creeks and Streams - Become a Blue Thumb Volunteer!

We can't achieve our goal of protecting streams across Oklahoma without the work of dedicated volunteers who are the eyes and ears of their local waterways, advocates for those waterways, and educators in their communities. Blue Thumb volunteers get involved in two primary ways: Monitoring and/or Education.
​Scroll down to learn more!

Monitoring

Blue Thumb Monitoring Volunteer Training

The first step to becoming a Blue Thumb monitoring volunteer is to attend a Blue Thumb Monitoring Volunteer Training. ​Blue Thumb offers several 2-day trainings throughout the state every year. Although staff typically determine the training locations, we’re happy to coordinate with you if you request an additional session.

The first day of training covers an introduction to the Blue Thumb program. Participants will receive an overview of the program's history, staff, mission, goals, and how they are achieved. They will also get some first-hand experience with some of the educational activities that we use most frequently to teach about nonpoint source pollution and other water-related topics.
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We will also take a trip to a local creek to explore the biology and physical habitat of a stream, including looking for bugs and fish. At the end of the day, you will have an understanding of what Blue Thumb does and how you can become involved.

The second day of training focuses on the chemical tests that our monitoring volunteers perform monthly. After a quick review of water quality and nonpoint source pollution, we will visit a nearby creek, where our professional staff will walk through the stream-side monitoring procedures, including what we look for and the reasons we sometimes find things in a creek that normally shouldn't be there. We will then return to the indoor location to perform the chemical tests, talk about the acceptable ranges for each test and the causes for results that fall outside of those ranges, how this offers us additional information about the creek, and what to do with the results when you are done. We will then work with you to help you adopt a creek if this is something that you are interested in pursuing.

We post information about upcoming trainings and links to register on our home page.

Education

​Blue Thumb offers a variety of ways to get involved in environmental education, whether you're an educator, community leader, or simply passionate about sharing Oklahoma's environment with others. Through programs like H2Oklahoma, Project WET, and Project WILD, volunteers can attend and/or facilitate hands-on events that provide engaging, science-based activities and nationally recognized curriculum materials focused on water, watersheds, wildlife, and conservation. Blue Thumb also partners with schools, organizations, and community groups to host workshops and educational events across the state, making it easy to connect people of all ages with the state's waterways, wildlife, and outdoor environments.

To learn more and get involved in Blue Thumb's environmental education efforts, contact Jack Hilgert.