Citizen Science and Chalk Stream Conservation

Iona McMillan has a Biodiversity Conservation and Management MSc from the University of Oxford, where she developed a passion for interdisciplinary environmental science.

She has worked with the National Trust as a Ranger, conducting practical land management and ecological monitoring programmes. Since 2025 she has been Citizen Science Coordinator for the Chilterns Chalk Streams Project which is hosted by the Chilterns National Landscape. She manages water quality and ecology monitoring programmes, as part of work to restore chalk stream habitat.

Iona will explore the vital role that citizen science can play in conservation – and how everyone can get involved! Focusing on case studies from the Chilterns Chalk Streams Project, Iona will explain different monitoring techniques, and how they have been used to drive forward river restoration projects.

Topics covered will include

• Water Quality Monitoring Schemes
• Ecological Monitoring Schemes
• Chalk Stream Restoration Impact Case Studies