Estuary magazine is a program of The Watershed Fund for the Connecticut River, which itself is a transformed organization. Founded in 1990 as the Center for International Management Education, the 501(c)(3)’s updated mission is to fund collaborative efforts in the watershed, to increase general awareness about the history, current progress and future of the watershed, and to encourage early career achievers entering the fields of environmental science and conservation. We’re excited to be part of this larger effort to bring many partners together to further support cleaner water, healthier habitats, and sustainable recreation in the Connecticut River Watershed.
Laying the Groundwork for Collaboration
One of The Watershed Fund’s first initiatives was a project to lay the groundwork for an ecological and stewardship collaborative for the watershed. With a $50,000 grant from the Endeavor Foundation in 2021, the project partnered with the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) and Audubon Vermont to develop the case for a river-based umbrella collaborative that has the potential to attract significant money to important projects that can only be done via greater collaboration among non-profits and government entities.
A story in the Summer 2022 issue, “Turn and Face the River: Building a Watershed Collaborative for Future Communities,” explained the project. “Everyone agrees that we face really critical challenges,” David Mears, Executive Director of Audubon Vermont said in that story. “Right now, we have a Swiss-cheese approach to land management; it’s too disconnected, and there is no larger strategy. This is a huge opportunity to make a difference.” The study produced a plan and proposal to implement the collaborative. For more information on this initiative, read the full story here: https://
This next phase of this initiative is produced a second grant from the Endeavor Foundation for $1 million over three years (2024, 2025, 2026) with four principal partners: Connecticut River Conservancy, Audubon Vermont, Mass Audubon, and The Watershed Fund.
Award for Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism
A second focus of The Watershed Fund is to encourage early career environmentalists and conservationists. In August 2023, estuary gave its first award to, Madeline Lahm, and hosted her for a talk to a group of estuary supporters at the Phoebe Noyes Library in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Maddy received a stipend with the award.
Maddy is a seagoing hydro-chemist for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia’s National Science Agency. Though currently working far from home, Maddie hails from Lyme, Connecticut. She earned her Chemistry degree from the University of Maryland, studying in and around the Chesapeake Bay estuary with a focus on fluorescence and life cycle of organic material in the ocean. She currently lives in Hobart, Tasmania, and sails on the 300-foot RV Investigator performing hydrochemistry tests on expeditions with scientists from around the world. She will be part of an expedition to Antarctica in January 2024.
Maddy pointed out that investing in young scientists yields between 3 to 7 times the return on every dollar spent. That is one reason The Watershed Fund gives its award for Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism. A story about her appeared in the Winter 2023 issue. https://www.estuarymagazine.com/2023/12/first-annual-award-for-early-career-achievement-in-environmentalism/
The winner of the 2024 award was Riley Doherty. Her story appears in the Winter 2024 issue of estuary.
The Watershed Fund encourages estuary’s readers to submit nominations for future awards.
For more information about how to support The Watershed Fund, please contact the fund via rhsusa@gmail.com.