LaMotte and Stroud Center Partnership Drives Water Sustainability While Turning a Profit
A partnership lasting more than 30 years between the LaMotte Company, a for-profit company, and Stroud Water Research Center, a nonprofit, has bridged a gap between scientific research and water sustainability through environmental education. It has transformed how students and teachers across the United States and beyond understand freshwater ecosystems, participate in community science, and safeguard water resources.
The long and successful relationship is a testament to its mutual benefits. For LaMotte, it has expanded its products and markets while increasing sales of its bread-and-butter offerings. It’s also added brand credibility from a trusted name in freshwater science. For the Stroud Center, it has brought the exciting, hands-on study of streams to thousands of students, helping to fulfill a mission to advance knowledge and stewardship of fresh water.
Partnerships between businesses and nonprofits can support economic interests and serve the public good. That’s what the partnership between LaMotte and the Stroud Center does. As corporate attention on water sustainability grows in scope and urgency, the Stroud Center will continue to provide the guidance and expertise necessary to achieve water sustainability — not only by developing products like those created in partnership with LaMotte, but also by supporting corporate initiatives through a variety of education services such as webinars and trainings.
A Fresh Perspective
A young chemist, Frank LaMotte, founded the LaMotte Company in 1919, working out of a small laboratory in Baltimore. The company focused on chemical-based water testing for pools and spas, drinking water, wastewater, industrial water, aquariums, and the like — that is, until the Stroud Center came knocking.
In 1992, the Stroud Center, with the help of Stroud Center supporter and board member Peter Davenport, pitched Richard LaMotte, director of marketing and sales and the grandson of Frank, an idea for a biology-based stream monitoring kit to market to educators.
He recalls, “At first, we were thinking, well, this doesn’t have any chemicals in it, which is a good thing, but then how do we get repeat business out of it?”
With help from Stroud Center educators, the LaMotte Company quickly turned a profit on a new product line. Once LaMotte signed on, the educators began marketing the kit at conferences and workshops and building it into their own education and professional development programs, reaching thousands of students and educators each year. The company has even sold more of its existing chemical-based kits to educators who purchase the stream monitoring kit.
The Flagship Product
The Leaf Pack Stream Ecology Kit was inspired by a research and monitoring tool that was the brainchild of Robin Vannote, Ph.D., a research scientist and the Stroud Center’s first executive director. He observed how fallen leaves form into packs behind rocks and other debris in streams and that the packs were colonized by microbes and macroinvertebrates eating the leaves.
He documented his findings in a report to the Rockefeller Foundation, which supported his research. In the report, he describes how, in 1969, he began assembling his own leaf packs by sewing leaves together. He would place them in White Clay Creek and retrieve them at two-week intervals to monitor the rate of decomposition. Macroinvertebrates, he discovered, have dietary preferences, and they grow best by consuming what they like.
In 1983, Vannote and Bern Sweeney, Ph.D., a research scientist and the Stroud Center’s second executive director, modified the design. They placed the leaves in mesh onion bags and used that design to monitor how cooling water discharges from a South Carolina nuclear weapons plant were impacting stream health.
It was and still is a valuable research and monitoring tool, but Sweeney thought it could be even more. In 1990, he tested it as an educational tool with his daughter’s ninth-grade science class. They deployed leaf packs in a stream, and weeks later, they retrieved them to examine the bugs inside. The species they found were indicators of stream health. The success of that pilot project paved the way for the formation of the Stroud Center’s Education Department and a partnership with the LaMotte Company to make leaf pack kits commercially available.
“It’s an ideal relationship,” says Margaret Hill, who managed the partnership until her recent retirement from LaMotte.
LaMotte brings the distribution network, packaging know-how, and business savvy to the table. The Stroud Center brings its scientific and educational expertise, product ideas, and market connections.
When Hill and Richard LaMotte saw the leaf pack kit prototype, complete with close-up macroinvertebrate photography by entomologist Dave Funk, they were impressed.
“It was so well designed, and the photography just knocked our socks off. We realized we could help kids understand that bugs can talk about stream health as much as chemistry can, and they can put that together,” says LaMotte. “The kit has really helped us identify with a larger base audience.”
Susan Brown, a seventh-grade science teacher at Northland Preparatory Academy, in Flagstaff, Arizona, has used the kits with her students for about 10 years. She says, “The leaf packs have been such an engaging lesson that has allowed me to inspire students, other teachers, and get students excited about their local watershed.”
Brown has her students compare the biological data from two waterways: the Rio de Flag, which is charged with effluent, and Oak Creek, which is free-flowing. She says the lessons have inspired her students to participate in environmental action projects that target water sustainability.
Word-of-mouth has helped drive sales of the kits and other products the Stroud Center and LaMotte co-designed. Brown estimates she has introduced the leaf pack experiment to up to 4,000 people at schools, workshops, community events, and events to teach other teachers.
Now available in both English and Spanish, the Leaf Pack Stream Ecology Kit has been sold in about a dozen countries, many of them in Latin America. Plans to expand its reach are in the works.
Al Harvey, vice president of sales, says, “Our goal at LaMotte is to be on the cutting edge of water sustainability. We want to help people while growing our business. If you can do both with the same product, then that’s a perfect fit. Leaf Pack is one of those products, and we’d be interested in collaborating on more products in the future.”
Opportunities for Business Leaders
Business leaders looking to achieve water sustainability targets and enhance their brand
image should consider partnering with nonprofits. They can access specialized expertise, innovative solutions, and community-driven initiatives all while building consumer trust and brand loyalty.
“Our long, successful partnership is proof that supporting and partnering with the Stroud Center is a sound investment, and I would definitely recommend that to any other companies looking for partners who understand water sustainability,” says Harvey.
Put Your Tax Dollars to Work!
Pennsylvania-based businesses and special purpose entities can receive generous tax credits by contributing to qualified educational organizations through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.
As a recipient of EITC funds, the Stroud Center makes its school programs available to Pennsylvania public school districts at no or reduced cost. These programs are rooted in the latest research and designed to state academic standards. By choosing the Stroud Center as a recipient of your EITC funds, you can help students and teachers discover their local streams and regional watersheds as they explore scientific concepts.
Get Started
Learn more about the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program.
