News

Sound Rivers’ field technician Will Shingleton got a lesson in aerial surveillance of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) this week with Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Jill Howell. This week’s flight was over a portion of the Neuse River basin from Contentnea Creek near Hookerton out to New Bern.

“We use aerial surveillance to be able to better see and monitor these facilities and identify potential permit violations that can result in animal waste entering our waterways,” Jill said.

Will worked as a water-quality intern during summer of 2021, and returned to Sound Rivers in January to help your Riverkeepers monitor the waterways during his last semester at East Carolina University. A bonus of the job: an impromptu flying lesson and piloting the plane during takeoff (with some assistance from the pilot).