Nearly 400 participants removed more than 40,000 pounds of trash from eastern Iowa’s Maquoketa River during the 16th annual Project AWARE , July 8 – 13. Lab Link takes a look at the comradery, hard work and fun so apparent during the annual event.

AWARE supporters gather on July 10 and include (front row, from right) Mike Birmingham, Seth Zimmermann, Sam Zimmermann and Kyle Skoff. In the second row are (third and fourth from right) Mark Johnston and Travis Morarend.The SHL team of Mike Birmingham (left) and Seth Zimmermann (far right) gather trash collection buckets on July 10 with Sam Zimmerman (Seth’s son). State Hygienic LaboratoryVolunteers use two canoes to haul a structure forced into the Maquoketa during the 2010 breach of the Lake Delhi dam upstream of Hopkinton, Iowa. Linda ApplegateEighteen volunteers form a chain to retrieve a mud-filled culvert on July 11. Jane Shuttleworth. A well-deserved break at the Manchester Whitewater Park on July 9 - Rebecca Kauten A vision of star trails is captured in a time-lapsed photo above Eden Valley Park in Clinton, Iowa about midnight on July 13. John Pearson Iowa Project AWARE staff members wave from the Maquoketa River north of Baldwin, Iowa, on July 13, the last day of the 16th Annual Project AWARE. Rebecca Kauten