Volunteer Spotlight - Greg Allington

Volunteers can make or break an event and having reliable fun volunteers that come back each time really improves the whole dynamic. The stream sampling of the Cedar started in Fall 2015 with 23 volunteers and has continued with an average of 30 volunteers involved at each event from a mixture of Midland and Gladwin County. It is a joyous moment seeing the teams come back from sampling with laughter and good conversation as they enjoy a lunch talking about the day or something that was brought up while at the sampling site. 

​Sara Huetteman Preserve and Volunteer Manager says "Greg is one of those volunteers the brings a positive experience to his group, making conversation with everyone attending. Outside of stream sampling Greg represents Little Forks by telling other people about our properties and the work we do. He attends workshops and other activities we plan on the Cedar River such as the Cedar River Clean Up."

Greg Allington has been in the Cedar River collecting macroinvertebrates since 2016. This year Greg will be nominated to MiCorps, the statewide program for stream sampling, for 5 years of volunteering with our program. We reached out to Greg to get his thoughts on volunteering with us. Take it away Greg!

​I volunteer for the Little Forks’ stream sampling on the Cedar River because it’s an easy and fun way to do citizen science in my backyard. I have a cabin on Pratt Lake in the Cedar River Watershed, and also live and work down river near the Saginaw River. I love to explore the wonderful rivers and streams we have here in the Saginaw Bay Watershed. We are very lucky to have so many places to hike, kayak, and fish. Many of these places we wouldn’t have without the efforts of Little Forks, along with the help of their partners and volunteers. I feel lucky to be able to help out. The best memories I have with Little Forks is meeting and working with some amazing people around the area. I am constantly inspired and excited to discover inspirational landowners conserving and protecting their land and waters for wildlife and people to enjoy. Most of all I live to discover new places to explore, hike, and be an amateur biologist again.