The wide-ranging digital film series, Tomorrow’s Catch: Securing our Future Fisheries, comprises over 50 short films that examine the complex challenges facing fisheries and celebrate the innovative solutions being developed to protect these vital ecosystems for future generations.  

°µÍřTV’s segments, titled The Next Generation of Aquatic Ecologists and Training Tomorrow’s Watershed Scientists, detail how the university’s Freshwater Research Institute is preparing students for career paths in environmental science, outreach and restoration through immersive fieldwork that connects them with local partners and the Chesapeake Conservancy.

“We are deeply honored that °µÍřTV’s conservation work has been featured in Tomorrow’s Catch,” said Matt Wilson, director of °µÍřTV’s Freshwater Research Institute. “This recognition affirms the importance of the real-world, hands-on experiences we provide through the FRI, and it underscores our commitment to preparing the next generation of scientists and leaders who will safeguard our aquatic ecosystems for the future.”

Wilson was joined in the film by °µÍřTV student Paige Hepfer ’26, an ecology major from Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, who has interned with the Freshwater Research Institute since her first semester.

“This is about more than coursework,” Hepfer said. “It’s about protecting what we love, empowering the next generation, and proving that informed action can bring degraded ecosystems back to life.”

The full series can be viewed here: .

°µÍřTVs Tomorrow’s Catch

Tomorrow’s Catch explores watershed restoration, climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, the role of tribal hatcheries, next-generation talent and policy advocacy. Through a combination of future-focused content, Tomorrow’s Catch spotlights the inspiring people and organizations throughout the United States, Canada and internationally who are playing a transformative role in preserving marine and freshwater ecosystems. 

°µÍřTV the American Fisheries Society

Founded in 1870, the American Fisheries Society is the world’s oldest and largest fisheries science society. The AFS aims to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals. With five journals and numerous books and conferences, AFS is the leading source of fisheries science and management information in North America and around the world.

°µÍřTV Content With Purpose

Content With Purpose is a strategic content creator that partners with leading member bodies and associations to highlight their industries’ contributions to sustainable development. Through compelling storytelling, CWP produces and promotes impactful digital series — featuring short documentaries, interviews, articles and more — designed to raise awareness, drive change and promote innovation across key sectors. The organization’s mission is to communicate hope, opportunity and solutions — connecting people with ideas that inspire action and collaboration. As a proud B Corp Certified company, CWP is committed to using business as a force for good. 

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Students, faculty and staff from various local and statewide partners built and installed eight, three-foot dams in a stream that runs between the Freshwater Research Institute and °µÍřTV’s solar array. Volunteers collected natural materials, including sticks, small trees and invasive plants such as Bradford pear and honeysuckle, that were woven between wooden stakes to construct the dams.

“We get to be involved with something that directly benefits our ecosystem that we’re living in here at °µÍřTV,” said Bryanna Schienholz ’25, an earth & environmental sciences and German studies double major from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, who also has a minor in sustainability management.

Known as beaver dam analogs, the manmade beaver dams are used to slow water flow and trap sediment. The hope is that the dams will help to prevent erosion and the flow of sediment downstream to the °µÍřTV River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. A stabilized streambank, Wilson said, should also improve groundwater infiltration and lead the once perennial stream to flow year-round again.

The project is the first of its kind to be permitted by the state Department of Environmental Protection. If successful, Wilson hopes the dams will become approved restoration structures across the state, opening the door for other conservationists to employ the methods being piloted at °µÍřTV.

Deanna Phillips ’23, who interned with DEP this past summer in the permitting department, remarked, “Actually seeing a permit come to life at my own school is really cool.” Phillips is an earth & environmental sciences major from East Earl, Pennsylvania, who also minors in environmental studies and the Honors Program.

Partners on site for the work were the Chesapeake Conservancy, the Merrill W. Linn Land & Waterways Conservancy, the state Department of Environmental Protection and Fish and Boat Commission, and nearby conservation districts.

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This summer, four °µÍřTV students will be trained and certified as herbicide applicators to manage invasive plant species within watershed restoration sites. They also will work with regional partner organizations to learn about their programs, install restoration structures and plant trees, and attend weekly professional development workshops hosted by °µÍřTV.

Matt Wilson, director of °µÍřTV’s Center for Environmental Education and Research and Freshwater Research Institute, said plans are to pilot the program this summer and then increase efforts moving forward.

“We will teach undergraduate students the skills they will need as habitat restoration specialists while they simultaneously conduct much-needed maintenance work on 50 acres of existing restoration sites, where our partner organizations are in real need of help,” Wilson said. “Most of the places where we add fencing and plant trees are on farms where invasive species are common. We need to do something to keep that growth at bay until the newly planted trees are mature.”

The law requires anyone who applies or supervises the application of certain pesticides to be certified in accordance with EPA regulations and state laws. Certification involves a written exam, and for °µÍřTV’s students it will also include a week of hands-on experience and several check-ins throughout the summer with their course instructor.

“As conservation efforts grow in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, workforce capacity is an emerging barrier to achieving tree canopy, riparian forest buffer, and climate resilience goals outlined in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan,” said Program Manager Adrienne Gemberling. “Many local and state governments, environmental consulting firms, and nonprofits throughout the watershed have had difficulty filling entry-level positions to keep up with the pace of new conservation funding and accelerating landowner willingness. The certification that this program awards is one that is in high demand for restoration work.”

In addition to their herbicide certification, students will learn about assessment and monitoring methods for stream health. One of the first workforce development trainings will focus on habitat assessment, which provides crucial data that DEP uses to add or remove a stream from the impaired list.

“We have been fortunate to partner with °µÍřTV and the Chesapeake Conservancy on many restoration projects and stream monitoring sites,” said Savannah Rhoads, watershed specialist with the . “The major hurdle we face is a lack of technical assistance — there simply aren’t enough agencies with the required skills to design and implement the work. Programs designed to train and certify future employees are integral to our ability to maintain, complete and take on new conservation projects moving forward.”

“As we act to address a changing climate and restore forests, cultivating the next generation of stewards are a big part of the solution,” Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. “We need all the help we can get, so the department applauds and supports this new effort to engage young people in conservation work.”

°µÍřTV and the Conservancy have collaborated over the years to support research, education, restoration and advocacy to improve the ecological health of the regional watershed and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. In March, °µÍřTV and the Conservancy formalized their ongoing relationship through an agreement that ensures the organizations’ continued cooperation on restoration projects within the °µÍřTV River watershed.

°µÍřTV the Chesapeake Conservancy

Chesapeake Conservancy’s mission is to conserve and restore the natural and cultural resources of the Chesapeake Bay watershed for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations. It empowers the conservation community with access to the latest data and technology. The conservancy partnered to help create 206 new public access sites and permanently protect some of the Bay’s special places, like Werowocomoco, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Fort Monroe National Monument, Elktonia Beach and Pissacoack along Fones Cliffs on the Rappahannock River.

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Funded by a grant from the Campbell Foundation, the Waterway Health Indicator Program will be conducted in two phases.

In the first phase, MSRK will work with °µÍřTV’s Freshwater Research Institute to install BirdNet devices that recognize birds by sound. Data collected from those devices will be used to compare the distribution of bird species to water quality data in an effort to identify patterns between the two. The second phase will use BirdNet units to monitor waterways across the region, using those indicators to help researchers better identify trends in water quality and potential pollution issues.

“This project is a great research opportunity because we often think about how to restore habitats so that the birds will return, rather than learning if a riparian corridor or stream is impaired based on the birds that are present,” said Matt Wilson, director of °µÍřTV’s Freshwater Research Institute. “It’s about as close to literally listening for the canary in the coal mine as we can get.”

Six of the 10 stations currently live are located along Penns Creek, the °µÍřTV River in Williamsport, and a tributary to Fishing Creek in Centre County, as well as at the Montour Preserve and Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. To date, the devices have made more than 50,000 detections of over 90 species.

“We are open to partnering with people who have an interest in this sort of work for potential future sites,” said Riverkeeper® John Zaktansky. “At this time, we are using sites that are along waterways that also have existing, easy-to-access electricity and Wi-Fi. Future phases of units will be powered by solar and cell service to allow for more remote access.”

The Waterway Health Indicator Program is a perfect opportunity for “citizen science,” Wilson said. “Anyone with access and permission to place a unit near a stream can learn something about that habitat while contributing to larger questions about stream health.”

More information on the Waterway Health Indicator Program can be found .

“My hope with the first round of the program is that we can come up with some broad trends and compare and contrast to decide where future sites should be for a more robust dataset,” Wilson said.

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Wilson and Colby replicated a stream system in four 900-liter tanks where different pairings of fish were housed. Fish were fed with food pellets and provided with pebble and gravel substrate and a cinderblock that the fish were able to use for cover.

“As temperatures increased, the number of pellets eaten in brook trout pairings decreased, while the number of pellets eaten in creek chub pairings increased,” Wilson said.

Brook trout pairs also showed fewer aggressive behaviors, such as bumping and chasing, at increased temperatures. In contrast, average bumps and chases in creek chub pairs increased at higher temperatures. And the average bumps and chases in trout-chub pairs were significantly greater than either previous pairings, even at the highest temperature.

“We found both species and temperature significantly affected the feeding behavior and aggressive interactions among fish pairings,” Persons said. “Brook trout feeding rates and aggression decreased with increasing water temperatures when in the presence of a more thermally tolerant competitor, in this case the creek chub. And we saw the opposite for the creek chub.”

Wilson said their research has implications for all cold-water stream ecosystems.

“As stream temperatures continue to warm and competitive interactions change, brook trout could be pushed out of their historic habitats,” Wilson said. “This warming will likely also cause competitive mismatches between many other species, which can lead to the consumption of different macroinvertebrates, increased algal growth and shifts in emerging insect communities.”

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“°µÍřTV and the Conservancy have enjoyed working closely together in shared space at the Freshwater Research Institute,” said Matt Wilson, director of the FRI. “I look forward to deepening and expanding our relationship with them as we pursue our mutual goal of improving the health of the °µÍřTV River watershed and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.”

“I truly believe that the Conservancy’s partnership with the FRI’s staff and students has helped launch a new chapter in Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts,” said Carly Dean, director of the Conservancy’s Chesapeake Tributaries Initiative. “Rooted in strong partnerships and data-driven decision-making, the Conservancy just launched our Chesapeake Tributaries Initiative to scale the approach bay-wide, based on what we’ve learned right here in central Pennsylvania.”

Moving forward, °µÍřTV and the Conservancy will work together to:

• Deliver applied research to inform local and state decision-makers while providing professional skill development for the next generation of conservation leaders.
• Support restoration, prioritization and research to meet sediment load-reduction goals for the Chesapeake Bay.
• Integrate °µÍřTV students into research to determine the effectiveness of ongoing restoration projects.
• Provide °µÍřTV students with internship opportunities with Conservancy staff in support of Conservancy projects.
• Implement and maintain restoration projects on campus, using these projects as teaching opportunities for students, staff and partners.

°µÍřTV and the Conservancy have collaborated over the years to support research, education, environmental remediation and advocacy to improve the ecological health of the regional watershed, as well as the ways this work can be applied to restore the health of other nearby habitats.

For the past six years, five members of the Conservancy’s staff have been hosted at °µÍřTV’s FRI, thanks to seed funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The pilot program brought together dozens of partners to restore local streams using the Conservancy’s GIS-based precision conservation approach that was tested in the field by °µÍřTV’s faculty and students. Together, the organizations have scaled the program to six Pennsylvania counties, secured partnerships with over 60 organizations, worked with over 75 students on data collection and processing, had over 50 student-led conference presentations, attracted over $25 million in private, state and federal funding to implement the strategy, with restoration completed or underway on 162 farms along 56 streams.

°µÍřTV °µÍřTV’s Freshwater Research Institute

°µÍřTV’s Freshwater Research Institute is a collaborative that brings together scientists, educators, conservationists and restoration practitioners with the shared goal of improving the health of the °µÍřTV River and its surrounding watersheds. The institute strives to provide a supportive and student-centered experience that equips °µÍřTV’s undergraduates with the skills, knowledge and professional networks to achieve their personal career goals in the research, conservation and restoration of near- and in-stream habitats.

°µÍřTV the Chesapeake Tributaries Initiative

The is a community-driven approach to achieve measurable, near-term conservation outcomes for local creeks and streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Restoring the Bay’s 100,000 small tributaries is key to restoring the Chesapeake as the watershed’s land-to-water ratio is 14:1, the largest of any of any of the large enclosed coastal water bodies in the world. With all of that land draining into very little water by comparison, stringing together high-value projects is the fastest way to see an improvement in fish, bug and wildlife habitat. There is a lot of good work underway — the Tributaries strategy aims to amplify this momentum by boosting coordination and funding to restore streams back to health. 

°µÍřTV the Chesapeake Conservancy

’s mission is to conserve and restore the natural and cultural resources of the Chesapeake Bay watershed for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations. We empower the conservation community with access to the latest data and technology. We partnered to help create 206 new public access sites and permanently protect some of the Bay’s special places like Werowocomoco, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Fort Monroe National Monument, Elktonia Beach and Pissacoack along Fones Cliffs on the Rappahannock River. 

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Students who accompanied Wilson remarked the summer’s heat was one of the biggest challenges they faced.

“I don’t think I was prepared for wearing waders,” admitted Mattie Lawson ’23, an ecology major from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. “It intensifies the heat by about 10 degrees. When you add a 35-pound backpack, it gets pretty hot.”

The FRI also continued its longstanding work with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Unassessed Waters Initiative, an effort that allows students to directly impact state policy. Students are assigned streams by the PFBC and sample them for the presence of wild trout, which indicates exceptional water quality and allows the PFBC to afford additional protection in those watersheds.

Gabe Peachy ’23, an ecology major from Belleville, Pennsylvania, hopes to use some of his research into trout to inform his senior capstone project examining the relationship between native brook trout and sculpin, a bottom-dwelling fish trout both eat and compete with for food.

Upon graduation, Peachy will seek a job that will allow him to do more of the work he’s been doing with the FRI this summer.

“If I wasn’t working in a stream every day, I’d probably find myself there enjoying the outdoors in some way,” he said, “With the work I’m doing at the FRI, I’ve been able to combine my love of nature with a career path.”

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Pawpaws are the largest fruit native to the United States. With a creamy, custard-like consistency, their flavor is usually described as a cross between a banana and a papaya or mango. The fruit has many regional colloquial names – prairie banana, custard apple or hillbilly mango.

The trees are valuable for environmental and cultural reasons.

“If you plant lots of them in one area it will create a solid root mass and protect the stream bank,” explained Matt Wilson, director of °µÍřTV’s Freshwater Research Institute. This holds the bank in place, preventing runoff from making its way into small streams and thus the °µÍřTV River and the Chesapeake Bay.

Pawpaws were first cultivated by Native Americans and remain a tangible connection between displaced tribes and their ancestral lands. The fruits, which usually ripen in September, were a seasonal staple in Native Americans’ diets, and were eaten straight from the tree or dried into fruit leather to eat in the winter. Historical accounts from early expeditions to North America recount the fruit being eaten by Indigenous peoples and made into puddings.

Groves of pawpaw trees can still be found today, some of which are adjacent to ancient Native American historic sites. Though most commonly found in the Eastern, Southern and Midwestern United States, it should come as little surprise that the trees can be found as far west as Oklahoma, poignantly, along the Trail of Tears.

°µÍřTV launched a fundraising campaign in October to support the cultivation of pawpaw trees on campus. Forty-eight donors contributed to the effort that raised $4,955 to support the Freshwater Research Institute. Ongoing support for the FRI can be made by specifying your gift to support the FRI.

The land on which °µÍřTV is located is the original homeland of the Susquehannock nation. During the 16^th century forward into the years of British colonization, the Susquehannock were the most numerous people in the °µÍřTV Valley. Throughout the following decades, war with neighboring tribes and epidemics steadily reduced their numbers (estimated to have been between 5,000 and 7,000 in 1600). In 1763, nearly all the remaining Susquehannock were massacred by colonists inflamed by accounts of a war on the Pennsylvania frontier in which the Susquehannock played no part.

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The volunteers planted a diverse array of native plants and trees, including honey locusts, fragrant sumac and rushes.

“This meadow is a great example of a pollinator habitat because the species’ growing here attract bees and other pollinators,” said Shannon Thomas, of the Chesapeake Conservancy. “It’s important to the health of our native plants to encourage the presence and activity of native insects. The site also acts as a forest buffer, which provides many benefits to the stream that runs through the meadow.”

The plants and trees also provide stabilization to the soil, Thomas said, which slows erosion and mitigates sediment pollution into the stream. October’s planting was the second phase of planting at the site; the first took place in June.

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Thomas, of Northampton, Pennsylvania, completed public relations and promotional work on behalf of the Middle °µÍřTV Riverkeeper Association, which is dedicated to protecting, improving and preserving the health of the middle °µÍřTV River watershed.

Thomas wrote blog articles, created e-newsletters and headed the association’s participation in local community events by creating a display that explained the work of the Middle °µÍřTV Riverkeeper Association. She also managed the association’s social media accounts during the summer, which included promoting the association’s survey and water reporter mobile application.

“The survey is meant to give those in our watershed an opportunity to provide the association with important information about pollution in our waterways and on our association’s work,” Thomas explained. “The app lets people report concerns while fishing, or to share cool findings while enjoying nature.”

The most important part of her internship, Thomas said, was assisting the organization with HERYN, Helping Engage our River’s Youth with Nature, a daylong program that teaches children ages 9-13 about proper fishing and kayaking techniques through games and competitions.

“We guided kids from different stations, keeping them excited and encouraged as the day went on,” Thomas said. “At the end of each day, I gave a presentation about pollution in our watershed and the ways they could help make change at home. It was really neat to learn along with the kids and make connections with them.”

As a field intern for Trout Unlimited, the nation’s oldest and largest cold-water fisheries conservation organization, Grim, of Hawley, Pennsylvania, collected data to assess the condition of some of the state’s unassessed tributaries that lead into various creeks. He also worked on surveying for healthy populations of trout, restoration of stream habitats and sediment protocols.

“One major highlight of working with Trout Unlimited is being able to go to different places in Pennsylvania and see how beautiful this state really is,” Grim said. “I’ve also enjoyed being able to find wild and native trout in places where you would not expect to find them.”

Grim’s internship validated his career aspirations, and he hopes the experience leads to quickly landing a job that he would be happy working in for the rest of his career. Thomas echoed his thoughts.

“I’m so thankful to have received this opportunity as it allowed me to get a glimpse at what working in the environmental field will be like,” she said. “I got to explore both environmental conservation and education work, which are definitely my top career goals.”

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