SmartRivers: Citizen Science Protecting the Ouse Burn

2nd October 2025

The Reece Foundation is proud to support SmartRivers — a nationwide citizen science programme helping to protect rivers and the wildlife that depend on them.

  • Volunteers monitor the Ouse Burn, using tiny river creatures to track water quality and wildlife health.
  • SmartRivers creates a lasting legacy, guiding restoration and boosting biodiversity through 2027.
  • Local people get hands-on, helping make the Ouse Burn cleaner, wilder and full of life.

Led locally by the Tyne Rivers Trust, the SmartRivers hub on the Ouse Burn was first established with funding from the Environment Agency. With new support from the Ouse Burn Way Fund, the hub will now continue its vital work through to 2027, strengthening long-term river monitoring and community engagement in the valley.

Developed by WildFish, SmartRivers uses aquatic invertebrates, tiny creatures living in the riverbed, as indicators of river health. Each species reacts differently to pressures such as pollution, chemicals, sediment and changes in flow. By studying these patterns, researchers gain a detailed picture of what’s happening beneath the water’s surface.

“SmartRivers is about more than monitoring; it’s about creating a legacy. The data gathered today will guide decisions for years to come, ensuring the Ouse Burn is a healthier river for future generations.”
— Anne Reece, Chair of the Ouse Burn Way Project Board

SmartRivers empowers trained citizen scientists to collect and analyse samples from the Ouse Burn. Twice a year, each spring and autumn, volunteers use an industry-standard kick-sampling method to collect invertebrates. These are then identified under a microscope, providing scientifically robust data on river health.

This hands-on approach does more than generate data, as it brings people closer to their local environment and builds long-term stewardship of the Ouse Burn.

The Ouse Burn SmartRivers hub will:

  • Give local people the opportunity to learn about river ecology and contribute to a national research network.
  • Provide long-term data to measure the success of restoration projects within the catchment.
  • Fill a critical monitoring gap, contributing to water quality and biodiversity research across the UK.

“We’re very grateful for the funding we’ve received from the Reece Foundation. Funding and partnership working are imperative to create a historical benchmark and provide data that regulators and local groups can use to protect our rivers. And of course, we thank our volunteer citizen scientists, who expand our capacity for research and monitoring. Together we will help create a healthy and more ecologically diverse Ouse Burn.”
— Maddy Fowler, Urban Catchments Project Manager, Tyne Rivers Trust

SmartRivers is designed for the long term, leaving a legacy of knowledge, community engagement and improved river health for generations to come. If you’d like to help protect the Ouse Burn and learn more about the wildlife on your doorstep, visit the Tyne Rivers Trust website to register your interest in volunteering. Together, we can work towards an Ouse Burn free from pollution and full of life.

The Ouse Burn Way is a seven-mile urban wildlife corridor running from the mouth of the Ouseburn to Weetslade Country Park. Its vision goes beyond wildlife, also improving water quality, enhancing wellbeing, and creating spaces for communities to connect with nature.

The Reece Foundation’s £1 million Ouse Burn Way Fund supports local projects that turn this vision into reality, helping build a cleaner, greener, and more connected future for Newcastle and the North East.

Back to News