Sac State project trains students to collect regulatory-quality trash data for municipalities

Julian, a professor of environmental studies at Sacramento State, told the California Water Quality Monitoring Council Trash Monitoring Work Group that his team has built the Trash Rapid Assessment Data Exchange (TRADE) to connect student- and community-collected trash data with municipal permittees.

"We've accomplished over 300 surveys so far," Julian said, and noted the program has provided paid internships for roughly 112 high-school and university students who are trained to follow quality-assurance project plan (QAPP) protocols so their data can meet regulatory needs. "When well planned and well executed, we would call [that] regulatory-quality data," he said.

The project includes a Survey123-based app, a background database and a dashboard that distinguishes QAPP-compliant data from less formal community observations. Julian said the team has used the platform with four Bay Area permittees — Berkeley, Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo — under a regional pilot supported by EPA and the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund.

Why it matters: California’s Phase 2 stormwater permits will bring trash-monitoring requirements to a much larger set of permittees across the state. Julian said TRADE aims to scale quality-assured community monitoring to meet that demand while also providing workforce development for students.

Julian described practical aspects of the program: site-location surveys, itemized counts and photographs, and partner-specific monitoring plans so municipal needs are addressed. He said students are trained in an online visual trash assessment and in itemized surveys that some municipal programs do not always collect. "It's not just handing students an app and saying go do monitoring," he said. "It's about training, step-by-step protocols and QA checks."

The presentation emphasized the dual goals of producing data that can inform regulators and offering educational and workforce pathways for students: "These are 112 students that now can see themselves in professional capacities," Julian said.

Participants asked about local partnerships and affiliations; Julian said community groups such as Earth Team lead high-school internships and play a key role in on-the-ground training and outreach. He acknowledged perception and funding barriers: municipal partners sometimes distrust community-collected data and paid internships and QA work require resources. The team did not secure earlier grant applications but is pursuing additional funding to expand the microplastics monitoring playbook and related work.

Next steps: Julian said he will share the dashboard and presentation materials after the meeting and invited members to discuss leadership roles for a potential citizen-science subcommittee. "We can have some candidates by the next meeting and get somebody else voted in," he said.

The work group’s chair, Shelley Moore, closed discussion by asking participants to contact her if they can lead a subcommittee or volunteer as co-chair; meeting recordings and presentation materials will be posted on the trash monitoring work group website.