A Farewell and a Start to a New Service Term!

Hello!

Thank you so much for reading my blog depicting my 2013-2014 term of service with the NJDEP Watershed Ambassadors Program! As you can imagine, the last month of service was a whirlwind of assignments wrapping up. To give you a few numbers, I completed:

• 35 visual and biological stream assessments
• 3 Volunteer Monitoring Trainings
• 5 Partnership Cleanup projects
• Over 100 educational presentations
• 1 final report to DEP!

It was a wonderful experience which led me to a summer position as an Environmental Educator with Montclair State University Passaic River Institute's Eco-Explorers Program. Along with two other educators, I traveled with Newark middle school students all around the Passaic River basin teaching on our interconnected ecosystem.

Now, I have just begun my second year of service: this time with FoodCorps! I will be educating preschool to high school students on nutrition and food, engaging them in school and community gardens, and sourcing local foods into their cafeterias and classrooms for breakfast, lunch, and snack programs! I am excited to be serving another year and look towards the future of public and environmental health: it's up to today's (AmeriCorps) leaders to continue forging the path to sustainability!

All the best,
Tilly (Thalya) :D 

P.S. Keep an eye out for my official FoodCorps service blog- coming soon!

Earth Month Cleanups

April was a busy Earth Month filled with cleanups all over North Jersey! Here are a collection of pictures from each site I assisted with and a few stats:

Halsted Middle School, Newton, NJ (Paulins Kill Watershed)

Volunteers: 250 students
Hours: 2
Sites Cleaned: 4

Stag Hill, Mahwah, NJ (Ramapo River Watershed)

Rallying the troops with MEVO

WMA 2 Ambassador Will having a good time cleaning up!

Group shot! Successful day :)

Partners: Mahwah Environmental Volunteers Organization (MEVO), Ramapough Luunape Nation, Township of Mahwah, Bergen County Parks, Mahwah DPW
Number of Volunteers: 43
Debris Removed: One 30-yard dumpster filled of general debris, over 600 tires (all types)  

Ringwood Manor State Park, Ringwood, NJ (Wanaque River Watershed)

Our dedicated group in front of the collection!

Partners: New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Ringwood State Parks
Number of Volunteers: 4
Debris Removed: 6 bags of recyclables, 4 bags of trash

Long Pond Iron Works State Park, Hewitt, NJ (Wanaque River Watershed)

Partners: New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Ringwood State Parks
Number of Volunteers: 2
Debris Removed: Approximately 1 bag of trash

Happy Earth Month! :D

Events Around the State

Timekeeper Volunteer for 2014 NJ Geography Bee held at Rowan University, Glassboro

Forestry Station Volunteers at 2014 NJ Envirothon, Stokes State Forest

Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center, May 2014 NJWAP Meeting

UWEP Training at Pequest NREC

Yes! It was time to learn how to fish at Pequest Trout Hatchery & Education Center in Oxford, NJ (Warren County). The Urban Watershed Education Program (UWEP), a Hackensack Riverkeeper program, helps students in urban areas connect with the environment. Several student groups will have a classroom day learning about climate change and non-point source pollution, a fishing day learning how to fish and why our estuaries are critical, and a water testing day learning water chemistry and getting on a pontoon boat. 

Participating Watershed Ambassadors learned how to teach each water chemistry test including dissolved oxygen (DO), phosphates, nitrates, pH, turbidity, and salinity. Once we had a handle of the kits, we learned about types of fish in the Newark Bay estuary system including the tidal portions of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers as well as their characteristics and important notes. 

Various fish and crustacean species are contaminated with PCBs and dioxins stemming from Agent Orange dumping from the Diamond Alkali Company during the Vietnam War. There are over 70 responsible parties (RPs) who have caused major chemical pollution of the Newark Bay Complex. If you would like to learn more about fish advisories and the history of pollution in the Newark Bay, click here.

After getting a better understanding of the environmental situation, we went out to the Education Pond to learn how to fish. Overall, a very successful day of fishing for many of us-- I caught 7 Rainbow Trout! It seemed like the Rainbows were the only ones biting, but the Education Pond is stocked with Brook and Brown Trouts, as well.

Eric (WMA 10) and Chris (WMA 5) patiently waiting

Ambassadors and Jodi from HRK casting out!

Jon Dugan (WMA 7) and Steve (WMA 14), our resident fishermen!

Me with my largest catch of the day!

It was my first time fishing EVER, and I really did have a ton of fun. I definitely want to continue my fishing adventures and share with the UWEP students how a city girl like me is not too different from them!

Volunteering with City Green

I can't say enough about this local organization which has quickly become a very meaningful component of my service term with NJWAP and my career thus far. 

City Green is a non-profit group focusing on building and supporting local agriculture in urban communities in northern New Jersey through education on public health, nutrition, and the environment. These efforts help promote social justice and environmental equality in local urban cities. For more on City Green's mission and vision, click here.

Raking in compost into garden beds at the Schultheis Farm :)

Through their Urban Agriculture intern program, I have assisted City Green in a variety of projects including but not limited to:

• Go Green! Conference, an educational program for local middle school environmental club students on nutrition and environmental sciences
• Seeding in trays and flats in their on-site greenhouse
• Direct seeding and transitioning plants from trays to ground on the Schultheis Farm
• Volunteer engagement during Wednesday Volunteering Days
• Off-site garden maintenance at Rosa Parks Community Garden in Paterson
• Harmony Project, environmental education program for local students (5/22 & 5/29)
• Field Trips with local students (May 2014)

Weeding and rotating beds at Rosa Parks Community Garden, Paterson, NJ

These skills and experiences that I have been building with City Green are helping me prepare for my future in sustainable food systems research. Every member of City Green's staff has been nothing but friendly and helpful from Todd the Farm Manager to Claudia the Program Operations Manager. Executive Director Jennifer Papa was gracious enough to share her path with me when I interviewed her for my NJWAP career interview goal! I am looking forward to future events and volunteering with the organization. We are "growing strong" each and every day!

For more information on volunteering with City Green, click here.

School Presentations in and out of WMA 3

As a Watershed Ambassador, a crucial component of the service term is providing environmental education activities to local schools. Sometimes, we head out of our WMAs to assist other local Ambassadors or because of relationships we built with past connections. Whenever I am asked to give a presentation, I give an emphatic "yes" because I understand just how important it is to teach students of all ages the various aspects of the environment and what we can do to protect it.

A thank you card from a grateful student :)

As of the beginning of May 2014, I have conducted 40 presentations within WMA 3 and 25 presentations out of my WMA (mainly in WMA 4). I have presented for students as young as second grade up to college level classes at William Paterson University and Ramapo College. Communities that I have presented in include Ringwood, Oakland, Wanaque, Wayne, Pompton Lakes, Passaic, Clifton, and West Orange. 
 

Enviroscape Presentation at E.G. Hewitt Elementary, Ringwood

One opportunity to highlight is NJDEP Take Our Kids to Work Day in Trenton. I, along with several other Ambassadors, held workshops related to watershed and river health focusing on fish species. "Fashion a Fish" from Project Aquatic WILD and "Sum of the Parts" from Project WET were huge hits-- every kid and parent who attended had a great time! Moreover, we coordinated an outdoor table where we had live macroinvertebrate samples for kids to view. Many walked away from the table excitedly saying, "That was the coolest table here!" which made me extremely happy-- all is a day's service. :D

Presenting at SCMUA Earth Energy Fest, Lafayette

While the service term is winding down, there are still numerous presentations on my calendar as the average school year in New Jersey ends in late June. Much more to look forward to!

Newark TreeKeepers

The NJ Tree Foundation conducted a special winter session of the TreeKeepers workshop series through Newark's Office of Sustainability. The program was hosted by Greater Newark Conservancy, a local non-profit specializing in environmental stewardship through environmental education, community greening and gardening, job training, and advocacy for environmental justice. 

This series of workshops was extremely beneficial to my understanding of New Jersey's trees and overall tree biology and maintenance. Each workshop focused on a specialized subject area related to trees:

1. Tree Biology and Basic Identification
2. Tree Diseases
3. Tree Pruning and Maintenance
4. The Environmental Significance of Trees 

The workshops were led by Newark Renaissance Trees Program Coordinator, Elena Lopez.

 

Elena and I after the Tree Pruning workshop

Elena was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the workshop series and topics. She led a very friendly group of residents and treehuggers to their TreeKeepers certification. Many have started local pruning clubs in various Newark wards! 

To read more about our successful winter workshop session at GNC, read on here.

Final TreeKeepers workshop session!