‘Invaluable service’: the role of community science in the Chesapeake Bay region

July 8, 2025, Bay Journal

Kovaka said formal scientific studies can leave out community concerns or paint broad strokes that don’t reflect what’s happening on the ground. For example, Richmond has data on where the city floods. But Sheri Shannon, co-founder of Southside ReLeaf, said it doesn’t fully reach the neighborhood level. The nonprofit focuses on cooling the city with tree canopy, but a lack of trees to capture rain can also increase flooding.

“It’s not a coincidence that the neighborhoods that have more impervious surfaces and less canopy cover and green spaces are also the ones where we’re seeing hotter temperatures, and also that flooding,” Shannon said.

So, Southside ReLeaf launched a program called Go with the Flow, which allows residents to sign up to submit photos of flooding in their area when it rains. The nonprofit is partnering with the University of Richmond to map the data and plans to present its findings to the city’s public utilities department.