Celebrating Earth Day 2025 with the River Detectives in Wicklow

On a recent sunny Sunday we went on a field trip to Wicklow with the River Detectives, a dedicated group of citizen scientists committed to monitoring and protecting the region's freshwater ecosystems.

They have been trained by University College Dublin's (opens in a new window)Professor(opens in a new window) Mary Kelly-Quinn in how to determine water quality in over 50 streams by identifying macroinvertebrates like mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, with a particular interest in Amaletus inopinatus, an Arctic-Alpine relic species and potential indicator of climate change.

To celebrate Earth Day today, this video gives a flavour of the remarkable work they do - children and dogs included!

The River Detectives would like to thank the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) for the grant that helped them secure sampling equipment and to the Laragh-Glendalough Tidy Towns Association for their continued support.