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In celebration of NRTG's 10th anniversary, we will be donating 10% of April's profits to True North Aid.

Designing a Robust and Successful Water Quality Study

NRTG’s MicroCourses provide focused, flexible training to sharpen your skills and enhance your professional expertise. In just four hours, Designing a Robust and Successful Water Quality Study will guide you through the critical steps required to design a water quality study that is both scientifically sound and defensible.  

Whether you are working in environmental consulting, regulatory compliance, or resource management, the ability to design an effective monitoring plan is essential. This MicroCourse will introduce proven methods for identifying key water quality issues, selecting appropriate indicators, and defining the purpose of sampling. We’ll discuss how to identify stakeholders or clients, determine what parameters should be measured, and translate your objectives into a practical, effective sampling design.  

Participants will gain a solid framework for creating a robust water quality study that produces reliable, actionable results. This training is ideal for environmental professionals, researchers, and decision-makers seeking to improve their study designs or refine their monitoring strategies.  

Course length: 4 hours 

Program Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, you will be able to: 

  1. Identify and prioritize key water quality issues for a defined water body using provided site data and stakeholder objectives.
  2. Define the purpose and scope of a water quality study based on the study objectives and spatial boundaries. 
  3. Select appropriate water quality indicators that align with identified issues and study objectives. 
  4. Determine sampling requirements by specifying parameters, sampling frequency and locations. 
  5. Develop a practical monitoring plan that integrates study objectives, selected indicators, and sampling design into a clear, actionable study outline. 

This course is approved for 4 Continuing Education Credits (CECs) under the Society for Ecological Restoration’s (SER) Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) Program. Participants are responsible for uploading their certificates at ser.submittable.com to receive CECs.

Instructor Profile

Jeff Sereda, PhD.

Manager, Ecological and Habitat Assessment, Owner Sereda Environmental
Headshot of Jeff Sereda, Senior Fisheries Ecologist and NRTG instructor.

Jeff holds a PhD. in Limnology and an Aquaculture Technician Diploma. He served as manager of a commercial salmonid hatchery for 4 years, lectured at the University of Saskatchewan on topics of fish physiology, taxonomy, ecology, conservation, and aquaculture. Currently, Jeff is a Manager of Ecological and Habitat Assessment, and formally an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. 

Jeff’s research has encompassed topics such as assessing the risk of aquatic ecosystems to anthropogenic eutrophication, macrophyte management, fish habitat restoration, and the impacts of water management on species as risk (Bigmouth Buffalo, Chestnut Lamprey, Plains Sucker, and Lake Sturgeon). Jeff’s research has been presented at over 60 national and international conferences and resulted in 20 peer reviewed publications. 

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