SHARE

Founder Of Water Quality Monitoring Group In Westport Plans To Retire

WESTPORT, Conn. -- After 26 years at the helm of the Earthplace Harbor Watch program, Director Richard Harris announced he will retire at the end of 2014.

Richard Harris announced he will retire from his position as director of Earthplace Harbor Watch at the end of the year.

Richard Harris announced he will retire from his position as director of Earthplace Harbor Watch at the end of the year.

Photo Credit: Contributed

Founded in the mid-1980s, Harbor Watch began as a citizen’s water quality monitoring group surveying three local estuaries.

Under Harris’ leadership, the program has become a leading volunteer-assisted water quality monitoring program on the Long Island Sound watershed. It now monitors hundreds of sites between Stamford and Trumbull and is supported by two state-certified laboratories.

“Dick has built a very solid foundation with expansion plans well on the way. We are very thankful to Dick for his tremendous leadership for so many years,”  Tony McDowell, Earthplace's executive director, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with him in the months ahead to ensure a smooth transition for the program and the continuation of his mission to restore the biological integrity of Long Island Sound and its watershed.”

A search for a new Harbor Watch program director is planned for later this month.

to follow Daily Voice Westport and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE