Sue Flint

OARS Staff Scientist from 1999 to 2019

Sue Flint served as OARS’ Staff Scientist from 1999 to 2019. On her role with the organization, Sue says, “Over the time I served as OARS’ Staff Scientist and my kids grew from toddlers to young adults, I had the opportunity to work on many projects, large and small, each of which challenged me to learn something new. Water quality, streamflow, QAPPs (Quality Assurance Project Plan), water chestnuts, beetle rearing, GIS mapping, stream connectivity, freshwater fish, trail building, and, of course, grant writing to support the work.”

One project that stands out among many for Sue began in November 2000 when Matt Leibman and Dave Pinkham brought an EPA EMPACT (Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking) grant opportunity to the office doorstep (she recalls the “somewhat-damp basement office in Damonmill”) and encouraged her to apply. Sue shares, “That grant was the first and biggest grant I had the opportunity to write, and it provided funding for OAR’s StreamWatch project for three years. Which was a blessing. Those were three years when we could concentrate on building the monitoring program. We learned about measure streamflow, researched the fish in our rivers, built collaborations with USGS (U.S. Geological Survey), Mass Fish and Wildlife, and Mass Audubon, developed OARS’ first water quality database, and created a Stream Health Index to communicate data in “near-real time.”

Now, Sue works for MassDEP’s (Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection) Watershed Planning Program. A true watershed champion, she is “still working to protect and improve our rivers, lakes, and estuaries and still being challenged to learn new skills.”

On OARS’ future, Sue says: “I hope that OARS thrives for another 40 years—through all the funding and political ups and downs—and lives to see the rivers flowing freely all the way to the ocean.”