Maggie Burnham

Maggie Burnham

2018 BSWC Member

Maggie Burnham

Maggie likes collecting water samples

Site Supervisor: Phil Matson, FLBS Research Specialist
Current Position: Montana DEQ Water Quality Technician

Hailing from Missoula, MT, Maggie was our first Big Sky Watershed Corps Member through the Crown Managers Partnership.  Maggie worked on Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) and was instrumental in recruiting 10 other BSWC members, Salish and Kootenai College students, and FLBS student intern volunteers to help sample Flathead Lake for zebra and quagga mussels.  Sampling 31 different sites on three separate occasions, Maggie used her field based experience, passion for educational outreach, and GIS skills to foster awareness of AIS throughout the Flathead Valley as she helped collect over 1,000 samples!

Maggie assisted with the 2018 CSKT Mussel Walk, which engaged roughly 150 middle school students with hands-on AIS prevention lessons and activities. Maggie also taught AIS curriculum at two Boys and Girls Club events, gave a boat inspection presentation to Glacier High School students, and produced maps showing the areas of Flathead Lake that were most vulnerable to AIS. She attended four Upper Columbia Conservation Commission meetings, gaining valuable insight into the political and scientific side of AIS, and networked with over 20 AIS professionals.

Maggie is putting her BSWC experience to great use as she continues her service on behalf of the waters of Montana, working now for Montana Department of Environmental Quality as a Water Quality Technician.

“Maggie was my first experience with the Montana Conservation Corps, and she taught me lot about the impassioned and brilliant future leaders who serve in the Big Sky Watershed Corps program. Maggie has a bright future ahead of her, and will continue to do a world of good wherever she goes.”  ~ Phil Matson

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