Citizen science as a long-term environmental baseline: assessing impacts of a small dam removal in Montana, USA

Blakey, Bethany; Bursztyn, Natalie

doi:10.5194/gc-9-401-2026

Articles | Volume 9, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-9-401-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Citizen science and co-creating with communities

https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-9-401-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 9, issue 3

Research article

|

26 Aug 2026

Research article |

| 26 Aug 2026

Citizen science as a long-term environmental baseline: assessing impacts of a small dam removal in Montana, USA

Bethany Blakey and Natalie Bursztyn

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-9-401-2026-supplement

Data sets

Pebble count and macroinvertebrate count data from Watershed Education Network citizen science surveys in Missoula, Montana, USA Bethany Blakey https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30752828

Model code and software

Code for cleaning, analyzing, and plotting pebble count and macroinvertebrate count data from citizen science surveys Bethany Blakey https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30758267

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Short summary

We analyzed eight years of citizen science data from a creek in Montana, USA to understand the impacts of small dam removal and explore the quality of citizen scientist stream monitoring. Volunteers measured sediments and counted aquatic insects at sites above and below the dam before and after its removal. We found the citizen scientists collected high-quality data that showed no change in stream health following dam removal. We highlight key practices for successful citizen science monitoring.