About Ally, AquaDiary, and A passion for water resources
Ally Berry is an environmental scientist with 10+ years of experience in water quality management and watershed protection across the United States.
She holds a B.S. in Environmental and Watershed Science from SUNY-ESF, an A.A.S. in Environmental Technology with a concentration in Geoscience, and is a NALMS- certified Lake Management Associate (LMA).
Ally began her career as a watershed inspector, helping draft and negotiate watershed rules and regulations and advising state agencies and municipal boards on water policy. Since then, she's gone on to manage more than 40 lake and reservoir projects across the country, from drinking water reservoirs serving major cities, to the recreational lakes communities depend on every summer.
Throughout her career in watershed management, Ally fielded the same questions about water resources, drinking water safety, the health of local lakes, and how watershed systems are actually managed.
She also noticed a gap between what the public hears and what the scientific literature actually says. To close that gap, Ally launched AquaDiary in April 2026, a show built on the belief that people deserve equal access to credible information about the water and the systems they depend on. Each episode digs into the science behind drinking water, contamination, and the systems that manage it, translating investigative rigor into plain-English public education.
In its first three months, AquaDiary broke into Apple's Top 200 Science Podcasts and grew to more than 10,000 subscribers on YouTube.
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - The Lorax, Dr. Seuss.
Certifications and Associations
Lake Management Associate (LMA) - NALMS
NALMS is the North American Lake Management Society.
NALMS’s mission is “to forge partnerships among citizens, scientists, and professionals to foster the management and protection of lakes and reservoirs for today and tomorrow.”
President Elect - OWLA
The Owasco Watershed Lake Association (OWLA) is a 501(c)3 that works to protect Owasco Lake and its watershed. OWLA educates the community about the lake and ways to protect the freshwater we all use everyday.