Elon Biology Major Joins Haw River Assembly as River Watch Intern

Virginia Campbell had already spent time pushing sustainability initiatives on Elon University's campus as an Eco-Rep for the university's Office of Sustainability. This past February, the biology major in Elon's Class of 2026 took that work outdoors, joining the Haw River Assembly as a River Watch intern to assess the health of one of central North Carolina's most vital waterways.

Campbell's primary responsibility is conducting surveys of streams and tributaries throughout the Haw River watershed, generating data that feeds into broader research on the watershed's overall ecological condition. The Haw River stretches 110 miles, with tributaries running through several counties, including Alamance County, where the river serves as a source of drinking water and recreational space for local residents.

The Haw River Assembly, founded in 1982, is a nonprofit built around protecting the river and connecting residents to it through environmental education, conservation and pollution prevention. Its community science and cleanup programs operate across the full watershed.

For Campbell, the internship deepened a connection between academic study and applied environmental work that began on campus. "As a current intern and past Eco-Rep for the Office of Sustainability at Elon, I have been able to learn how sustainability is applicable to many different fields and areas of study," she said. "Now as an intern for the Haw River Assembly, I have an even greater understanding of how sustainability is important in addressing both human and environmental health."

The surveys Campbell conducts contribute directly to the Assembly's ongoing effort to track watershed conditions, giving the organization field data on tributaries that communities across multiple counties depend on every day.