{"id":2457,"date":"2026-08-23T18:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T22:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/?p=2457"},"modified":"2026-08-23T18:00:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T22:00:41","slug":"sabrina-koetter-is-defending-her-ms-thesis-clarity-for-lakes-and-communities-understanding-the-communication-practices-and-role-perceptions-of-volunteer-lake-monitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/sabrina-koetter-is-defending-her-ms-thesis-clarity-for-lakes-and-communities-understanding-the-communication-practices-and-role-perceptions-of-volunteer-lake-monitors\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabrina Koetter is defending her MS thesis: &#8220;Clarity for Lakes and Communities: Understanding the Communication Practices and Role Perceptions of Volunteer Lake Monitors&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sabrina Koetter, who was coadvised in the Watershed and WESP labs, is defending her MS thesis on Tuesday, August 25.  For those at UVM, Sabrina&#8217;s defense will be in Aiken 311. For a Teams link, please contact me or Sabrina in advance. Sabrina&#8217;s abstract is below. <\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Using mixed methods\u2013 surveys followed by focus groups\u2013 this research 1) investigated how volunteers in four U.S.-based long-term lake monitoring programs communicated with others in their networks about lake monitoring and 2) outlined how volunteer lake monitors perceive their unique roles. Research on participatory water monitoring?has often focused on data collection, learning outcomes, or volunteer motivations, while less was known about how they communicate their experiences to others or perceive their role as lake monitors.Using role theory as a guide to explore role and?communication, this study found interactional commitment, perceived expectations, and watershed or lake association group membership influenced lake monitor role salience and communication.Lake monitor communications were largely characterized by sharing data and personal lake observations with interpersonal connections such as friends, family, and neighbors.Findings may inform participatory science practitioners, coordinators, and scholars through highlighting the social dimensions of the volunteer scientist role, including the importance of social connection, communication training, and recognition of the science communicator role volunteers can play within their communities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Congratulations in advance, Sabrina. <\/b>It has been wonderful working with you over the last two years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sabrina Koetter, who was coadvised in the Watershed and WESP labs, is defending her MS thesis on Tuesday, August 25. For those at UVM, Sabrina&#8217;s defense will be in Aiken 311. For a Teams link, please contact me or Sabrina in advance. Sabrina&#8217;s abstract is below. Using mixed methods\u2013 surveys &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[426,160,448],"tags":[86,469,156],"class_list":["post-2457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-graduate-students","category-lab-news","category-uvm","tag-graduate-students","tag-lakes","tag-science-communication"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"ajefferson","author_link":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/author\/ajefferson\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2461,"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457\/revisions\/2461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/all-geo.org\/jefferson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}