Help TUC discover Didymo distribution across Alberta this summer! Are you heading out for a hike or an afternoon of fishing? Why not help contribute to this province-wide citizen science initiative!
Didymo is a single‐celled, microscopic algae known as a Diatom. Diatoms have an outer “shell” of silica called a frustule. Some diatoms, like Didymo, can produce a stalk. Recently, enormous stalk production by Didymo has resulted in thick mats of Didymo in rivers worldwide and has generated concern because of possible impacts on the salmonid fish in these rivers.
The Discovering Didymo Distribution (D3) Project is a collaboration between Trout Unlimited Canada and the University of Calgary. The project was piloted in Alberta in 2016 with similar efforts in the United States with Trout Unlimited USA and North Carolina State University. The objectives of the 2018 D3 project are to expand knowledge on how widespread Didymo is in Alberta and ultimately, North America, to engage volunteers in a meaningful citizen science project, and to improve public awareness of Didymo and fish habitat. The D3 project uses a citizen science approach to crowdsource sampling effort by using a free app called Epicollect5 which does not require cell service to function. Each sampling season, volunteer citizen scientists are provided with sampling kits and instructions for sample collection and are asked to record observations using the Epicollect5 smartphone app. Following sample collection, volunteers can drop off their kits at a designated drop-off location, and the kits will be returned to the University of Calgary for analysis.
Following the success of the D3 project in 2016 and 2017, and thanks to funding from the
Alberta Conservation Association, the 2018 D3 project will be rolling out again this summer! Any interested member of the public is welcome to participate in this citizen science initiative, no science background required! If you are interested, please contact Elliot Lindsay, Project Biologist at or by phone at 403-615-8102, and visit the project webpage.
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