What is CLEAN Environmental Science Education?

The Shane Hulsey CLEAN Environmental Program provides students from third grade through college with hands-on environmental education activities while they safely participate in a canoe trip, stream walk, or volunteer service-learning restoration project. Since 1996, the CLEAN program has safely taken over 38,500 Alabama students to the Cahaba River. Through our CLEAN Virtual Learning Resource Library, we are bringing these valuable learning resources to an even wider audience by making them accessible online.

Scheduling a Virtual CLEAN Program

Cahaba River Society’s Environmental Science Educators can work with you to custom-design a virtual learning experience for your class.

Would you like to book a CLEAN Environmental Science Field Trip for your school, scout troop, church group, club, or other group?

Videos About the CLEAN Program

Taking a Field Trip with Cahaba River Society (3:41)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ws5DO5bGgyE" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>

Join Cahaba River Society’s environmental educators as they bring a group of high school students on an environmental science expedition on the Cahaba River through the Shane Hulsey CLEAN Environmental Science Education Program in this fun, short video by DoReMe Media.

Cahaba River Society Webinars

Learn about unique Cahaba River topics from the experts on the staff and board of the Cahaba River Society. Stay tuned for more topics upcoming!

Cahaba River Biodiversity with Dr. Randy Haddock (38:50)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i1MygMT-_0Y" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>

Alabama’s Cahaba River is one of the most biologically diverse rivers on earth, with more fish species than any other river in North America. Dr. Randy Haddock is one of the south’s notable ecologists and a leading expert on the Cahaba River. He has led Cahaba River Society’s work on the water quality, science, and recreation programs since 1991 and is the chief guide and naturalist on recreational canoe trips. A sought-after presenter who has been featured in Smithsonian Magazine and introduced visitors from around the world to this treasure trove of biodiversity, Dr. Haddock presents some of the unique plants and animals that call the Cahaba River home.

Cahaba Lilies with Dr. Randy Haddock (38:09)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xUNgtxk96mE" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Dr. Randy Haddock, field director of Cahaba River Society, is a foremost expert about the Cahaba lilies. In fact, Randy’s nighttime, nimble-footed research on the lily shoals observed for the first time the primary pollinator of the lilies, the Plebian sphinx moth. His guided canoe trips are a delight, when visitors learn all about the globally-significant biodiverse wildlife of the River and get to sip lily nectar (tastes like orange-honeysuckle).

Cahaba Lilies versus Invasive Wild Taro with Dr. Randy Haddock (21:50)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O556mQEW8FU" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>

Learn about Invasive Wild Taro and its threat to native plants, including the beloved Cahaba Lily. Dr. Randy Haddock, Field Director for Cahaba River Society explains what wild taro is, how it got into our waterways, and what you can do to help our native plants.

Ask Cahaba River Society

Do you have a Cahaba question? Email a video of yourself asking it to [email protected], and our experts will give you an answer! Here are some questions that we’ve answered so far:

Ask Cahaba River Society: What’s the biggest fish in the Cahaba? (2:01)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZxujRSE_Cgg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Cahaba River Society Field Director, Dr. Randy Haddock, answers a question from Coraline, a 4th grader from Shelby County about the biggest fish ever found in the Cahaba River. In fact, the biggest fish ever caught inland in Alabama was caught on the Cahaba River.

Ask Cahaba River Society: How do fish communicate? (1:39)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iX0-kUXtTCY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Environmental Science Educator La’Tanya Scott explains how fish communicate, discussing the way that fish sense vibrations using the sensory organs of their lateral line.

Ask Cahaba River Society: What’s your favorite animal in the Cahaba River? (1:33)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yk0MGBfpStc" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Environmental Educator La’Tanya Scott answers a question from five-year-old Canyon in Shelby County, “What’s your favorite animal in the River?" It’s hard to choose and impossible to pick one, but she loves to find hellgrammites, which are dobsonfly larvae, and dragonfly nymphs, which are baby dragonflies.

Ask Cahaba River Society: Are there shad, channel catfish, and smallmouth bass in the Cahaba River? (9:55)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3y3EYQGAl1U" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Dr. Randy Haddock, Cahaba River Society Field Director, answers a question from Stuart, a young angler who lives along Shades Creek in Jefferson County who wants to know if there are shad, channel catfish, and smallmouth bass in the Cahaba River.

Ask Cahaba River Society: What are these little yellow clams in freshwater lakes and creeks? (3:44)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qoc1j1R5eiA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> 

Corbicula fluminea, or asian clams, are an invasive species of mussel that occupy most water bodies in the United States. Environmental Educator Ian Black explains how they got here, why they flourish, and what we can learn from them about preventing the spread of invasive species.

Cahaba Talks

These series of vignettes address a variety of topics pertaining to the Cahaba, it’s biodiversity, and its natural history.

Cahaba River Biodiversity (2:32)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g9g3l6YmPa4" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Cahaba River Society Education Director Gordon Black explains why the Cahaba River is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in North America.

Mountain Laurel Pollination (2:15)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kaugnh4I4tE" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Do you know how mountain laurel ensures that it gets pollinated by visiting insects? Find out in this short natural history vignette with Dr. Randy Haddock, Field Director of Cahaba River Society.

Stromatolites (3:54)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YLU-z0GP_sw" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Dr. Randy Haddock, Field Director for Cahaba River Society, discusses some of the unique geologic features of the Cahaba River.

Fight Pollution

How Does Litter end up in Your River Series:

The Cahaba River is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in north America. Running through the heart of Alabama, it passes through some of the state’s most populated areas. This leaves it vulnerable to many types of pollution, including litter. Most of the trash in the Cahaba River, your drinking water source, and in lakes, other rivers, and the ocean starts on land where it is carried into waterways by rain and wind. Learn more about what you can do to fight litter pollution by watching and sharing this series of short films by DoReMe Media.

Episode 1: Plastic Bags (1:00)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8XiWbb7BzMo" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>

Episode 2: Cigarette Butts (:49)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A7Qs1ZKrclo" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>

Episode 3: Aluminum Cans (:48)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ccx6-4L2Ul0" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>

The Intersection of Art and Nature

Films in this category explore the connections between art and nature.

River Music for All (5:54)

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aBKBmaaoZkw" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>

Alabama Youth Symphony Orchestra members embark on a Cahaba River Society field trip through the Shane Hulsey CLEAN Environmental Science Education Program. While on the Cahaba River, they explore the connections between music, nature, and creativity in this short film by Hunter Nichols.