Greenversations

Do you have a passion for the environment? Have you put the passion into action? Well, you need to let us know and learn about the President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA). PEYA is an award program for students K – 12th grade. Whether you completed an environmental awareness project as an individual, a group, or class, you are eligible, and encouraged, to apply.

I have been managing the PEYA program in EPA’s Region 1office for over 5 years. It is one of my favorite programs in the agency and is truly a hidden gem. So many students create projects centered around the environment. How cool is it to be recognized for your passion with an award ceremony in Washington, DC, potentially meeting President Obama, and hanging out with kids from across the country with the same passion for the environment as you. I am always amazed and impressed with the scope and depth of some of the projects submitted. I have had winners who have created a rain garden behind their town hall to prevent runoff from contaminating the river behind it; an Eagle Scout who created a program to have fisherman use an alternative weight to lead sinkers; an afterschool group who created an energy audit and program for its school district and so many more.

The regional award program is conducted once a year, and each of the 10 EPA regions selects a regional winner. Each regional winner is invited to an EPA-sponsored award ceremony in Washington, DC and receives a presidential plague.

I never get bored with students’ passion and action towards the environment. We want to read about your great projects and EPA knows you have worked hard on a project so why not get some recognition? You can get the program details (including applications deadlines), check out previous winning projects for inspiration, and get the application at epa.gov/peya. Get the credit you deserve for putting your passion into action and making the environment a cleaner, healthier place, and remember, it’s never too early to start a project for next year!

About the author: Kristen Conroy is the Environmental Education Coordinator in the EPA Reg 1’s Boston region. Kristen has been with EPA since 1991.

When I told my 8-year-old neighbor about Sewer Science, he asked, “Is that like detention?”

I suppose a high school science laboratory that teaches students about wastewater treatment (how poop is managed) could seem like punishment to a third grader.

“That’s gross,” he said.

Fortunately, there are young people who can tolerate the gross and the necessary as they confront subjects even more distasteful to most American students than human waste: biology, microbiology, chemistry, physics, and even math and engineering.

According to the report, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future,” our students are not keeping up with their counterparts in other countries. After secondary school, fewer US students pursue science and engineering degrees than is the case of students in other countries.

Sewer Science is coming to the rescue. The week long lab is used in numerous California school districts to reach students throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego County. The program was recognized with an EPA Pacific Southwest Environmental Award.

In the Sewer Science laboratory, high school students are steeped in science:

• they manipulate Plexiglas models of treatment operations and analyze the wastewater as it is treated;
• they measure pH, turbidity, ammonia, and chemical oxygen demand;
• view and identify the sludge organisms using microscopes and identification charts;
• they discuss expected results, review their analytical results, and decide on the next step to make in the treatment of their waste.

At the lab’s conclusion, the students plot their data and compare their final results to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effluent standards. Sewer Science addresses the challenges of hands-on interdisciplinary learning while providing a unique and much-needed high school outreach program for the wastewater industry.

According to the American Water Works Association, “almost 50% of today’s water and wastewater operators will retire within the next five to seven years. They’ll need to be replaced.”

So not only is Sewer Science equipping high school students with fundamental science skills as the rest of the country fumbles, but the program is preparing kids for jobs in an industry with dire need for fresh faces.
Sewer Science isn’t detention — it’s a lucky break for the wastewater industry, the American scientific community, and everyone who drinks water.

About the author: Charlotte Ely spent two years jumping from office to office through the Environmental Intern Program. She landed in EPA’s Pacific Southwest Sustainable Water Infrastructure and Climate Change program in the fall of 2008, and plans to stay put for a while.

This year EPA’s Community Involvement Training Conference was held in Seattle, Washington. EPA employees as well as staff from other federal and state agencies and the private sector attended the three day conference. As part of the conference, various field trips were offered. I signed up for mine in advance and was very excited to learn more about this facility. My expectations were met and exceeded. Islandwood Environmental Center is a school in the woods for kids in grades 4th to 6th. Nestled among a 255-acre woody area - hence the name - on Bainbridge Island, Islandwood is the place we all wished we could have attended as kids. During our visit, Ginger, our tour guide, gave us a glimpse of what it is like to be a student visiting Islandwood. Using Puget Sound’s rich cultural history and the environment around it, the programs integrate art, science and technology. Their facilities are all sustainable and energy efficient and it is not uncommon to run into compost piles in the large dining room.

Islandwood is not open to the general public. Instead it operates as an overnight four-day stay for schools from within the state that otherwise do not have resources to provide their students this kind of experience. I marveled at their integrated curriculum that included hands on learning. This state of the art educational facility boasts a wet lab, a greenhouse called the Living Machine, an art studio, a floating observation classroom inside a marsh, a bog tree house and a 190-foot-long suspension bridge.

Islandwood is a great example of how communities, the private sector, the government and academia can work together to provide a one of a kind experience that can foster environmental stewardship. Graduate students from the University of Washington along with artists, biologists and educators work together to help students fulfill Washington State’s requirements of mandatory environmental education (1990).
After touring the facilities and walking for a few miles inside the woods, observing ancient large leafed maple trees, pine trees, wild blueberries and birds, I did not want to leave. In fact, I was one of the last people to get back on the bus. Islandwood was a unique experience and reminded me why I love my career in the environmental field so much.

About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialists in the San Juan, Puerto Rico office and handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

Este año la Conferencia de EPA para Relaciones con la Comunidad se llevó a cabo en la ciudad de Seattle, en el estado de Washington. Personal de la agencia al igual que empleados del gobierno federal, estatal y la industria privada asisitieron a este adiestramiento de tres días que tuvo como propósito primordial analizar las tecnologías emergentes a la hora de comunicarnos con las comunidades y ofrecernos herramientas para ser más efectivos a la hora de llevar a cabo nuestro trabajo. Como parte de este evento se coordinaron varias visitas de campo. Yo me anoté en la mía con varios meses de anticipación ya que sabía que esta era la mejor parte de la conferencia. Y ciertamente no me equivoqué. El Centro Educativo Ambiental Islandwood es una escuela en el bosque. Ubicado en un predio de 255 acres de terreno forestal en la Isla de Bainbridge y cerca de un viejo aserradero, Islandwood es el lugar que muchos de nosotros quisimos visitar de niños. Utilizando la historia cultural de Puget Sound y el medioambiente a su alrededor como trasfondo, los programas de Islandwood integran arte, ciencia y tecnología para enriquecer el currículo de estudiantes de 4to a 6to grado.

Islandwood no está abierto al público en general. Opera como una escuela con estadía nocturna de cuatro días en sus facilidades sustentables. Muchos de los chicos que llegan a Islandwood provienen de escuelas que no pueden proveer a sus estudiantes este tipo de experiencia. Sus facilidades incluyen un laboratorio, un estudio de arte, un invernadero llamado The Living Machina, un salón de clases flotante dentro de una ciénaga, una casa-árbol y un puente de suspensión de 190 pies de largo.

Esta facilidad es un gran ejemplo de cómo la comunidad, el sector privado y las instituciones académicas pueden trabajar juntos para proveer una experiencia singular a jóvenes que no cuentan con este tipo de facilidad o medioambiente a su alrededor. Estudiantes graduados de la Universidad de Washington así como artistas, biólogos y educadores trabajan juntos para ayudar a los estudiantes a cumplir con el requisito del estado de Washington de educación ambiental mandatoria (1990) .

Luego de visitar las facilidades tuvimos la grata experiencia de caminar unas cuantas millas dentro del bosque. Entre la vegetación de árboles milenaros y coníferos me sentí nuevamente como una niña. Por poco no llego de vuelta al autobús! Islandwood me recordó el por que amo tanto mi carrera en el campo ambiental.

Sobre la autor: Brenda Reyes Tomassini se unió a la EPA en el 2002. Labora como especialista de relaciones públicas en la oficina de EPA en San Juan, Puerto Rico donde también maneja asuntos comunitarios para la División de Protección Ambiental del Caribe.

I had an indication that I am raising a little environmentalist on my daughter’s 100th day of school. Each child was asked to write what they wanted 100 of. The most popular answers where items such as dollars or Pokeman cards, but Zoe wrote, “I would like 100 gardens in my neighborhood.” Yes! Maybe it’s due to the lack of front yards in our San Francisco neighborhood, but I’m claiming progress towards raising another environmentally conscious individual. As I became involved in the Pacific Southwest environmental awards ceremony, I was particularly interested in the four award winners below.

• Laura Anderson/West Hawaii Youth Fisheries Council (WHYFC) - Smoking was banned at all Hawaii County Parks in 2008 as the result of a group of students in West Hawaii who belonged to the WHFYC. They performed research to support the bans, including two state science fair projects by Laura Anderson. They gathered signatures on petitions, testified before the Hawaii County Council, and even helped write the bill to ban smoking at Kahalu’u Beach Park.
• Suzanne Kretcshmer and Grades of Green - Suzanne, along with a small group of parent volunteers, recently founded Grades of Green to increase sustainability efforts on school campuses throughout the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. They worked with the District, City, and Waste Management, the local waste hauler, to develop programs such as “Trash Free Tuesdays,” “Walk to School Wednesdays,” lunchtime recycling and composting, and more.
• Katharine Noonan of Oakland High School - Since science is best learned through experience, Katherine provides fieldtrips for her students to the Marine Mammal Center, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Catalina Island, and the EPA Region 9 Lab. Katharine and her students collect water samples from Lake Merritt for analysis and share the data with City officials and the general public. Katherine also sponsors internships and many other exciting opportunities for her students such as participation in the Otter Bowl.
• Sewer Science - Sewer Science is a high school wastewater science laboratory developed through a collaboration of San Jose State University, the City of Palo Alto, and 13 high school science teachers from seven high schools. During the week-long laboratory, students simulate wastewater and wastewater treatment processes. They take environmental measurements and learn problem solving and decision making skills.

I know there are many other environmental youth programs out there and would love to hear about them!

About the author: Sara Jacobs usually can be found in the EPA Region 9 Drinking Water Office. However, she is currently on a detail to the Navajo Nation EPA Superfund Program where she spends much of her time out in the field helping to identify contaminated structures which are a legacy of uranium mining.

Students participate in the Baldwin County Grasses in Classes program to help grow native plants for wetland and dune restoration projects.

Do you want to educate, inspire, and engage students, scouts, park, zoo or museum visitors, or even your neighbors and family members to do something about climate change and how it may affect wildlife and their precious habitats? We (Karen, a former teacher and Mike, who monitors local water quality as a volunteer for the Audubon Naturalist Society) are impassioned about the climate change issue, especially as it may affect wildlife and wild places, and how important it is to get everyone involved in solving the problems associated with it. So two years ago we gathered together educators from 6 other federal agencies to develop the new Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit for Formal and Informal Educators to help the educator in each of us spread the word on what is at stake and what we can do about it.

It was not an easy task to find and organize staff members from agencies as diverse as National Park Service, NASA, NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management, but we were determined to create an educational product that demonstrated a strong, unified voice on climate change and that was built on the efforts of scientists and educators from government agencies that work on issues involving climate change, wildlife and wild places. After two years of meetings, phone calls, emails, data dumps, arguments, hugs, long drives to video shoots, and lunches for grousing and/or celebrating, we are extremely proud and excited about the end result of this truly unique collaboration.

Please go to the inter-agency U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) site where the toolkit is being hosted and see for yourself! Let us know what you think!

About the Authors: Karen Scott is an Environmental Education Specialist for the EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education after spending more than 10 years with EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs, Climate Change Division. Michael Kolian is a physical scientist with EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs, Climate Change Division.

About the author: Amanda Sweda joined EPA’s Office of Environmental Information in 2001 and develops policy development for web related issues and serves on the Environmental Education Web Workgroup. Amanda is a former Social Studies and Deaf Education teacher and is married to a math teacher so education is an important topic in their home.

Most of us would love to go back to our high school days. Sounds unlikely, huh? A lot of adults remember high school as being care-free – our families took care of the big stuff like food, bills, and “grown-up” stuff. As we get older we take those responsibilities on for ourselves – going to college or getting job training, working full-time, finding and taking care of where we live, settling down whether it be marriage or a steady relationship, starting families, and paying bills. But as we get older we forget that teenagers have a lot of responsibilities too and that our younger days were not just fun and games! There is homework, writing papers and doing research, practice for sports, debate, band, theater, etc., being involved in school clubs, volunteering and community service work, working part-time jobs, doing chores at home, spending time with friends and relaxing (very important!), and thinking about the future and what happens after high school.

Most of us who work at EPA are way past our high school days, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t think about high school issues. EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment – high school students are definitely included. One of the ways that we interact with high school students directly is on our Web site. There is a group of dedicated EPA staff who maintains this site – the Environmental Education Web Workgroup (EEWW). Our members work all over the country in our different region offices but we share a common goal - to make sure that our high school education resources is of the highest quality and meets your needs. We can always make the high school site better…and one of the ways that we’d like to hear form you is on this blog. Once a month on the last Friday of the month, a member of EEWW will post a new entry for high school students. We hope you’ll join us and share with us your thoughts and opinions. Let us know what environmental topics you are interested in. We’re curious to hear if your school has an environmental club and what kinds of projects they’re working on. Just so you know we are not going to do your homework, but we can help you find information about the environment, community service, and other topics that might be of interest to you.