The Environmental Quality Institute (EQI) is a local non profit that collects large amounts of data on water quality in Asheville and the Western North Carolina area primarily through the help of volunteer stream monitors. EQI executive director Ann Marie Traylor visits The Fusion Forest to talk about EQI’s history and importance to local water issues, what type of activities volunteers engage in, the importance of community science to EQI’s mission and most importantly, a deep dive into aquatic macroinvertebrates, small animals that are a critical metric for EQI’s efforts to assess stream health in the region.