Harnessing people’s passion

We’re making tools to do just that.

Our mission as Water Rangers is to build the tools to help citizens and scientists easily record and analyse water data so that they can use the data to learn about problems, share discoveries and engage with their neighbours.

We were founded out of Aquahacking in 2015, and returned to present at Aquahacking 2016! Here’s a quick 6 minute video that explains a bit about ‘why we are’ and what our platform can do.

Founders

Kat Kavanagh

Executive Director & Designer

Mark Dabrowski

Developer

Ollie Kavanagh

Designer & Developer

Team members

Laura Gilbert

Community & Research Coordinator

Juno Garrah

Environmental Education Coordinator

Emelia Duguay

Sustainable Development Intern

Silvia Rodriguez

Mexican Ambassador

Keith Turner

Application Architect

Our history

2015

Our founding

Our first prototype won the Aquahacking Competition. We officially became a non-profit organization and launched our platform for open data and citizen science.

About our Aquahacking journey

Aquahacking Winner

2016

Growing our platform and designing our first testkits

In 2016, we worked hard to test our platform with water users and experts. We launched the first testkit program to explore oceans with WWF Wavemakers.

This year, we were winners of the GLOS (Great Lakes Observing System) Data Challenge for integrating their data into a format for our users.

Our platform featured on CBC News

About winning the 2016 GLOS Challenge

2017

Starting the research

We launched iOS and Android apps to collect data offline. We were also fortunate enough to get a permanent exhibition place at the Canadian Museum of Science & Technology.

This year, we published reports on how testing water changes behaviours and released initial results to help validate citizen monitoring data quality with Carleton University.

We were awarded the Friends of the Tay Watershed Annual Environmental Award for Contribution to Water Resources at provincial, national and international levels (2017)

Initial study: Carleton Study: How do our testkits compare to professional probes?

Friends of the Tay Watershed Annual Environmental Award

2018

Growing and maturing

In 2018, we were awarded the Early Adopter Award for our work in citizen science from WatersNext. WatersNext is a national award from Water Canada.

The South Nation Conservation Authority honoured us with an award for contributions to the environment.

Over 1,000 registered users in 83 groups are monitoring waterways, from Northwest Territories to British Columbia to Newfoundland, as well as in the United States and Mexico!

Friends of South Nation Environmental Award

WatersNext Award Early Adopter Award

2019

Making friends, developing better technology

In 2019, we worked with many partners to make our testkit even better. New advancements included our newly designed bag, a new project to equip watersheds across Canada, plus working on machine learning projects to improve accuracy.

Growing the Flow: Our Impact Report (pdf)

2020

Refining our training and growing

In 2020, we were named a bold and transformative solution to help achieve the goal of ensuring all of Canada’s freshwater is healthy. We are currently part of the Climate Ventures accelerator at the Centre for Social Innovation.

We have big plans for 2020. Stay tuned!

WWF Water Tech Challenge Winner