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SUMMER 2012 | ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE 31
LAURENTIAN PORTRAIT
JARED CRISCUOLO ’03
HIGH-TECH
RIVER MAPPER
When he moved to San Diego, Jared
Criscuolo ’03 couldn’t figure out why
he kept getting sick. When he learned
it was from pollution in the ocean, he
decided to act.
He joined the Surfrider Foundation,
which advocates for the protection of
oceans and beaches. ere he met busi-
ness partner Kristian Gustavson, and in
2009 they founded Below the Surface
to investigate and raise awareness about
watershed pollution.
eir current initiative is the River-
view Project, which combines technol-
ogy and environmental stewardship.
ey began by paddling 300 miles of
the Sacramento River, a major strand of
the Central California watershed. e
idea was to investigate and map sources
of pollution. Criscuolo and Gustavson
are developing the mapping aspect,
which they call “Google Streetview for
rivers,” with advisors from Google’s
Developer Relations team.
“Everything fell into place last fall,”
Criscuolo says. First, the project gained
support from the United States Geologi-
cal Survey (USGS). It gained further
momentum when
Outside
magazine
featured Criscuolo and Gustavson as
Readers of the Year for 2011 and Chief
Inspiration Officers for 2012. e proj-
ect was also covered in T
he New York
Times
and several California papers.
e Streamview compo-
nent includes a feature that
is crowd-sourced, meaning
that, as with Twitter and
Wikipedia, “individuals
and other organizations
can participate,” Criscuolo
says. “We are developing an
iPhone application that will
gather images, geo-reference
each image location, host
comments and observations,
and upload all data to a
composite map online.”
One of Below the Sur-
face’s goals is to survey 27
rivers during the next five
years. eir 2012 focus is
expeditions on the Sac-
ramento, Colorado and San Joaquin
rivers.
“We want to finish those three riv-
ers,” Criscuolo says. is means “more
than 2,400 miles of river and upwards
of 4,000 pivot points, which are the
camera icons in Streetview that pan 360
degrees on a fixed location.”
Another 2012 goal is release of the
Streamview phone application, which
will be “a major step for Below the
Surface, since it will allow the average
recreationalist to contribute images for
Streamview from watersheds throughout
America,” Criscuolo says.
Recognition and support has al-
lowed Below the Surface to expand. In
early 2012, Criscuolo welcomed Katie
Evereth ’02 as director of development.
Her focus is fundraising to finance the
Riverview project and its long-term
goals, one of which is to branch into
algae-based biofuel development.
At St. Lawrence, Criscuolo was a
government major, elmo Senator,
member of the Outing Club, Out-
door Program guide and tutor at the
WORD Studio in the Munn Center for
Rhetoric and Communication. He says
he has been able to apply many of his
St. Lawrence experiences in his work
with Below the Surface. “We’ve been
very fortunate,” he says. “Our gratitude
goes beyond what words can describe.”
by Annalise Grueter ’12
Annalise Greuter, a senior writing intern
in University communications in spring
2012, lives not far from the headwaters
of the Colorado River, one of three rivers
Below the Surface intends to study this
year.
Chris McPherson
Jared Criscuolo '03, left, shown with his business partner
Kristian Gustavson, has developed a river-mapping business,
which he hopes will aid in conservation.