Big Sky Watershed Corps Welcome

The Madison Conservation District (MCD) is excited to welcome Maia Schweikert as their Big Sky Watershed Corps (BSWC) member for the 2024 year.

Maia hails from the foothills of Elkin, North Carolina, along the Blue Ridge Mountains. She grew up immersed in the outdoors, and always enjoyed exploring new places, swimming, and interacting with nature. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (go tar heels!), where she majored in Environmental Studies, with minors in Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) and Social & Economic Justice.

During her studies, Maia engaged in watershed stewardship in North Carolina as a member of Sound Rivers, an environmental non-profit aimed at protecting the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds. In this position, Maia helped manage their volunteer water quality testing program, investigating E. Coli levels in the Upper Neuse watershed. This experience helped foster her passion for community outreach and interest in water-related issues. After graduating, Maia journeyed west to Big Sky, MT to work for Moonlight Basin as a member of their STEM-based camp for children. As a program leader, she was able to develop and implement outdoor-related education materials for children aged 3 – 12, as well as leading programs such as hiking expeditions, archery, and a high and low elements challenge course. Maia is excited to come back to the Madison Valley this year with the opportunity to gain experience in conservation work and create a meaningful impact in the local community.

Maia is excited to extend her experience in stream monitoring programs by leading the Madison Stream team this Summer. She has begun processing data from the 2023 sampling events, and is preparing for winter sampling at Jack Creek this February. For more information and sampling results from previous years, visit the MSUEWQ Data Hub website (https://waterquality.montana.edu/datahub_about/index.html).

Maia will also be providing support for other MCD programs, such as overseeing Equipment Rentals, distributing seeds as a part of the Pollinator Initiative, and helping with the Pull Your Share program later this year.

The Big Sky Watershed Corps Program is offered through a partnership of the Montana Association of Conservation Districts (MACD), the Montana Watershed Coordination Council (MWCC), and the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC). Along with Maia, there are over 40 BSWC members across the state eager to make a difference in local conservation efforts over the next year. Along with providing members with the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience in natural resource work, this program allows conservation districts and other organizations to increase their capacity. This experience would not have been possible without the help of our partners.

If you are interested in any of our programs or have any questions, you can contact us at (406) 682-3181 or info@madisoncd.org. Thank you for reading, and say hello to Maia when you see her around!