Hi, My Name is Nolan Varas, and I am a high school student from North Stonington, Connecticut. I am part of a program called the Conservation Ambassador Program within UConn's Natural Resources Conservation Academy. This program supports high school students in Connecticut to develop and carry out environmental action projects in their communities. The goal of the project is to address a local socio-environmental topic that ideally results in a community benefit or positive outcome. I am someone who enjoys spending time in the outdoors, and one of my favorite activities is fishing. The brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), is the only native trout to the state of Connecticut. They need clean, cold water to survive, making them an effective indicator species. Brook trout habitat is threatened by numerous factors, including climate change, urbanization, and agricultural practices (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection). For my research portion of the project, I went out electrofishing with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Electrofishing is a technique used by fisheries scientists to temporarily and humanely stun fish, allowing researchers to collect data on them quickly before releasing them back into their habitat. We sampled four different streams in southeastern Connecticut where brook trout had previously been detected to record differences in brook trout abundance. Below, you can see photos and graphs from this research. I am now asking for your support to help me raise money for Trout Unlimited, an organization dedicated to the preservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and habitats for trout and salmon. I have worked with artist Mike Lussier, of Art Freek Tattoo in Providence, RI, to create a T-Shirt design that depicts a brook trout. All profits made from these shirts will directly go to supporting my local Trout Unlimited chapter and my goal of helping protect native trout. Thank you for supporting my cause!

A brook trout I collected during my sampling with CT DEEP.

Amounts of brook trout detected in Lowden Brook by year. Other than 2022, there is a steady decline in population.

Me holding a brook trout during measuring.