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Watershed Restoration

Interested in streamside buffers or soil health practices for your property? Please tell us about your interest here.

Watershed Restoration: A Shared Public and Private Investment

Stroud Water Research Center works hand in hand with landowners, helping them use their land more effectively through whole-farm planning and watershed stewardship.

Our expert team sets up the collaborations and partnerships necessary to achieve the highest level of freshwater conservation. The Stroud Center and many partner groups and agencies have secured over $20 million dollars through USDA’s Resource Conservation Partnership Program to support agriculture conservation and restoration projects on farms in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay watersheds.

Archival photo of Robin L. Vannote, Ph.D., working at an indoor stream flume.

The Robin L. Vannote Watershed Restoration Program is named for Robin Vannote, Ph.D., a research scientist and the Stroud Center’s first director. Under Vannote’s leadership, the Stroud Center evolved from a dream to an institution at the forefront of freshwater research. The Stroud Center has benefited enormously from Vannote’s hard work, keen insight, and long-term scientific vision since 1966, and the naming of the Watershed Restoration Program is a fitting tribute.

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Photo of a farmyard after laneway installation.
Cattle walkway area before stabilization.

Watershed Restoration Staff

Photo of Lisa Blazure

Lisa Blazure

Soil Health Coordinator
Will Curley wearing a Philadelphia Eagles jersey.

Wills Curley

Watershed Restoration Project Coordinator
Headshot of Rebecca Duczkowski.

Rebecca Duczkowski

Assistant Director of Donor Relations
Headshot of Matt Ehrhart.

Matthew Ehrhart

Director of Watershed Restoration
Headshot of Lamonte Garber

Lamonte Garber

Watershed Restoration Coordinator
Amanda Garzio-Hadzick

Amanda Garzio-Hadzick

Watershed Restoration Specialist
Headshot of Heather Titanich.

Heather Titanich

Watershed Restoration Coordinator
Headshot of David Wise.

David Wise

Watershed Restoration Manager
Calen Wylie

Calen Wylie

Watershed Restoration Program Assistant

Watershed Restoration News

A group of Exelon volunteers lean against a Stroud Center truck at a tree planting event.
Enhancing Ecosystems Through Community Efforts
Volunteers from Exelon, Wilmington Trust/M&T Bank, and Dansko joined us for tree plantings and maintenance at New Bolton Center. We appreciate their support!
A stream riffle in the Schuylkill Highlands with mature forest on both banks.
How Streamside Forests Make Us and Our Water More Climate Resilient
Whether it’s too much, too little, or too dirty, the primary way humans experience climate change is through water. Streamside forests can help.
A three-year-old forested buffer showing strong tree growth.
Using Herbicide: An Important Tool in Establishing Streamside Forests
To ensure our buffers are set up for success, we strategically use herbicides to control invasive plants for the first three years.
A woman and a man plant a tree in a new riparian buffer.
How Many Trees Does It Take to Protect a Stream?
Here's a hint: wider buffers are better. Narrower buffers help but don't function as well as pollutant barriers and enhancers of in-stream function.
A streamside forest and native plant garden take root at Overlook Community Campus.
Transforming Local Parks to Enhance Fresh Water
A streamside forest project in Lancaster, Pa., inspires sustainable initiatives for a cleaner Chesapeake Bay.
A graph of water temperatures in forested, reforested, and meadow reaches of White Clay Creek during a heat wave in 2024.
Heat Waves in the Water
Have you ever wondered about extreme weather's immediate and long-term effects on our streams and rivers and its impacts on aquatic life?