St Mary’s to Host Urban River Survey Training Workshop

St Mary’s University, Twickenham is to host a two day training session on the Urban River Survey run by Friends of the River Crane Environment (FORCE) starting on 15th January. The River Crane is a tributary of the River Thames which flows through Twickenham. The river has been popular site for many student field visits and is currently the subject of several academic research projects involving St Mary’s University and other local institutions. Participants will get hands-on practice of using the Urban River Survey, a technique widely used to quantify the quality of urban streams. It combines desk-studies, mapping and field surveys to help understand how urban rivers are working, therefore identifying potential steps for their restoration or improvement. Around 12 delegates from organisations associated with the River Crane will be attending, including a number of citizen scientists, research students from Brunel University and Kingston University, local London Boroughs, the Environment Agency and Thames Water. The course will be led by Prof Angela Gurnell from Queen Mary University of London and include fieldtrips to the nearby River Crane to practice undertaking the Urban River Survey methodology. Dr Iain Cross, Lecturer in Physical Geography at St Mary’s said, “It is a privilege that St Mary’s has been chosen to host this event. Prof Gurnell is an internationally-renowned physical geographer and the opportunity to participate in the training alongside others with an interest in the River Crane is highly exciting. The course also provides a great opportunity to explore new research initiatives to benefit a local river studied by many of St Mary’s Geography students.” Anyone who is interested in becoming a citizen scientist for the River Crane should contact Dr Iain Cross.