Meet Bayley, 2026 Big Sky Watershed Corps for SRWG

Now that I’ve begun working with the Sun River Watershed Group, I’d like to introduce myself to the community, to help you all understand a little more about who I am!

 My name is Bayley Sbardellati (sbar-dell-ah-tee).  I moved to Great Falls at the start of the year to begin my term with the Big Sky Watershed Corps (BSWC).  I was lucky enough to be chosen to have the Sun River Watershed Group as my host site during my term of service.  I am eager to support Program Coordinator, Madison, Executive Director, Tracy, and the larger Sun River Watershed Community over the next year.

 I grew up in a small town in Southern Vermont called Westminster, which sits in the Connecticut River Valley. Growing up there means that this is only the third time in my life that I’ve been west of the Mississippi River.  After graduating high school, I attended Union College in Schenectady, NY (also nicknamed “The Electric City”, like Great Falls), where I received a BS in Environmental Science this past June.  While there, I conducted extensive research on groundwater hydrology and geochemistry as a part of a project done in conjunction with Columbia University, the National Institute of Health, and the National Science Foundation, that is trying to help bring clean drinking water to various native reservations across North Dakota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma.  This helped me grow a passion for water quality and water resource conservation. 

 During college, and following my graduation, I’ve spent time working on multiple farms, as well as substitute teaching.  Most recently, I was a long-term substitute teaching social studies to high school students.  During my experience doing farmwork, Vermont was hit by some of the worst flooding in its history, and two years later, a devastating drought, so I started becoming familiar with some of the struggles farmers can deal with when it comes to their water resources.  These experiences went hand-in-hand with the research I conducted and continued to push me towards working within the field of hydrology.

 Since I graduated, my goal has been to move out of the Northeast, and work with water quality and water resources, so when I heard about BSWC, I knew I had to apply.  I ended up being selected to work with SRWG, and after finding out about what this group does, I couldn’t be happier to have the opportunity to work with an incredible organization like this one. 

 My responsibilities with SRWG will mainly include supporting Madison with water quality monitoring, fish passage barrier inventorying and hosting some of our community events this year, including the Rain Barrel Workshop and Weed Whacker Rodeo.  I will also be hosting an event on my own, so more on that in the future. If you would like to reach out to me, my email is bayley@sunriverwatershed.org .  I am very excited to meet more members of the Sun River Watershed Community!