Who We Are
3 Rivers QUEST (3RQ) is a research project housed at the West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) at West Virginia University.
The Mission of 3RQ is to protect the quality of source water in the five states in the 25,000 square mile 3RQ region in the upper Ohio River basin.
Interested in participating?
Watershed groups — team up with 3RQ to engage with other organizations and researchers in monitoring and discussing the health of our waterways.
What We Do
The 3RQ project monitors rivers, tributaries and headwater streams that drain an area of over 25,000 square miles in five states. It brings together academic researchers, citizen scientists, and conservation groups to collect, analyze, and monitor important water quality data.
Our Research Partners in West Virginia University Water Research Institute (WVWRI), Duquesne University (DUQ), Wheeling Jesuit University (WJU), and RedHorse Environmental LLC ensure the scientific integrity of water quality data in these waters, with particular attention to source water. 3RQ maintains the integrity of data gathered and its accessibility to the public at no charge through funding from the Colcom Doundation.
Contact Information
Email:
Melissa.ONeal@mail.wvu.edu
Email:
lisa.berreiro@gmail.com
Web:
3riversquest.org
Facebook:
3RiversQUEST
West Virginia Water Research Institute
PO Box 6064
Morgantown, West Virginia 26506
Phone: 304.293.7006
3RQ launched REACH 4Schools (R4S) as a full program in mid-2017 with a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Education Grants Program. R4S will thus be engaged in six schools in western Pennsylvania for two academic years with this funding. More funding is being sought to increase the number of participating schools.
What is REACH 4Schools?
3RQ REACH 4Schools (R4S) is an educational framework that engages students from grades 6 through university level in monitoring water quality within the Allegheny, Monongahela, and upper Ohio River Basins.
Middle and high school students who participate in the project become involved by collecting data, either continuous by deploying data loggers, and/or discrete by obtaining physical samples for chemical analysis.
Educators can use the data collected to teach their students in many ways and on many topics, such as general water quality, water chemistry, and chemistry as it relates to biology, aquatic biology, water sampling, environmental principles, ecology, data analysis, data entry, and database management.
Services Offered
Ongoing support from 3RQ for participating R4S schools includes:
- Providing ideas to the school on how to integrate R4S activity into current curricula or afterschool programs;
- Providing partial reimbursement of transportation for 6 trips to and from a school’s sample site;
- Providing the use of a Platypus robotic boat at least once/year;
- Providing ability to share data between schools;
- Providing a 4-part lecture series (EDTalks) on Stream Integrity designed specifically for middle to high school students; and
- Hosting a water quality research conference for students to present their water quality projects and/or research, and to network with other students doing the same.