By: Maya Ray, 2024 Long Island Sound Study Intern
This summer, twelve high school students were overseen by Will Perret, Senior Coordinator of Audubon Connecticut and Connecticut’s Coastal Stewardship specialist, as they stewarded two natural areas along the Connecticut coast.
“We like to try and connect them to the different facets of conservation work,” said Perret. “You know, it’s not all just being out in the field, sitting at a table for outreach or doing data collection. There’s the policy work, there’s communications, there’s graphic and media design, there’s education.”
With support from a 2022 Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant of $249,989, Audubon Connecticut is encouraging young adults from schools in underserved areas to explore conservation careers. Through partnerships with local public school districts, students are employed as WildLife Guards, Salt Marsh Stewards, and college-level crew leaders. The program has been running yearly since it was first funded in 2016 by a LISFF grant of $34,997.
“I’m so glad that there is a position like this, so I could explore my different options,” said Natalie Romero, a student Wildlife Guard.
The 2022 grant is funding the program at two sites in Stratford, Connecticut at Long Beach and Great Meadows Marsh.
Long Beach is a popular recreational site spanning roughly 1.5 miles. The area, in addition to being a hot spot for fishing, birding, and other beach activities, is also a valuable nesting location for multiple bird species including piping plovers and least terns. A section of the beach also includes a marsh where 42 dilapidated cottages once stood, posing as environmental hazards until their $1.14 million dollar removal in 2011, which included a $233,000 contribution from the Futures Fund. The land the cottages were built on is directly adjacent to the primary nesting area on the beach, which is separated from marshy areas by a single road.
At Long Beach, Wildlife Guards encouraged locals to be a “good egg,” pledging to make bird-conscious decisions when visiting the beach. Guards could also be found westward scouting out bird populations. By recording species type and the number of sightings, students were able to track how many and which types of birds are using Long Beach as a nesting spot.
Great Meadows Marsh, a part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, was once over 1,400 acres of land. It has since been downsized by more than half, due to excavation, invasive species colonization, and sea level rise. The marsh is an important site for fish, crabs, migratory birds, and endangered species like the salt marsh sparrow and marsh pink flower. A joint effort to restore 34 acres of the marsh was launched in 2019, resulting in reduced mosquito populations, the return of native plants, and greater biodiversity. The restoration of the marsh has been the result of collaborative volunteer efforts in group plantings and trash cleanups. According to Perret, around 175,000 plants have been hand planted by Audubon Connecticut staff, volunteers, and contractors.
At Great Meadows, the WildLife Guards were responsible for planting multiple native plants in barren areas of the marsh. Today, the plants can be seen repopulating the once-empty areas. They also performed routine watering of plants and cleaned up debris within or directly outside of the marsh area, occasionally helping a wayward diamondback terrapin turtle across the road.
“It’s so shocking to see how there was absolutely nothing out here, and now look at it.” Ruthie Lopez, a WildLife Guard. “Even in one ecosystem, there’s so much stuff going on.”
These spirited high schoolers worked diligently to nurture plant and animal biodiversity through fieldwork and informed beachgoers about the importance of protecting sensitive species in high traffic areas, encouraging people to “share the shore”.
“Trying to ultimately change hearts and minds in the long run, that’s the goal.” said Perret.
The spring 2022 issue of Sound Update focuses on Long Island Sound Study’s Year in Review of 2021. Various clean water, habitat restoration, education, and science projects from Connecticut and New York are highlighted, including the new Long Island Sound Marine Debris Action Plan, Community Science Long Island 2021, and the latest findings on hypoxia in the Sound.
CONTACTS:
Jimena B. Perez-ViscasillasLong Island Sound Study NY Outreach CoordinatorNew York Sea Grant jbp255@cornell.edu Lillit GenovesiLong Island Sound Study NYC and Western Basin Outreach Coordinator New York Sea Grantlg543@cornell.edu
STONY BROOK AND QUEENS, NY (March 7, 2022): On a chilly October morning in 2019, teachers Amy Olander and Veronica Morabito-Weeks excitedly set up oyster tanks and put model-making materials like aluminum trays and sponges over tables at the Cedar Beach Nature Center in Mount Sinai. They were getting ready to host their very first Mentor Teacher Workshop on nitrogen pollution, where they would later share with fellow teachers some of the interactive activities, games, and lessons they used in their own classrooms to teach their students about Long Island Sound. The weekend after that, educators Hildur Palsdottir and Leah Master held their workshop on plot studies at the Sands Point Nature Preserve, where they led fellow teachers on a walking tour of the grounds, tested the sand for microplastics, and tried out different kinds of portable microscopes together. These fun workshops would be the last of their kind in a while for the Long Island Sound (LIS) Mentor Teacher Program, which like many other in-person programs had to take a hiatus during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
This year, the LIS Mentor Teacher Program is back and accepting applications from 5th to 12th-grade educators interested in leading workshops for 2022! — see our “Call for Mentor Teachers” (pdf).
Hosted by New York Sea Grant and the Long Island Sound Study national estuary program, the LIS Mentor Teacher Program provides technical and financial support to selected pairs of teachers to organize professional development workshops for their peers. The hands-on interdisciplinary workshops include a field component and center around Long Island Sound topics, with past workshops covering geology, water quality, marine debris, and more.
The 2022 LIS Mentor Teacher Program is encouraging topics centered around climate change adaptations, sea-level rise, and ecological health. Three pairs of educators will be selected to conduct one workshop per team and will be given a $1,200 stipend per teacher, a travel budget, and a workshop budget to cover materials, location, etc. New York teachers across Queens, the Bronx, Westchester, and Long Island are encouraged to apply!
Teachers can look forward to joining these workshops in the Fall. Ultimately, the lessons, activities, and programs shared during these workshops will help inspire students throughout New York to explore, understand, and take care of the amazing resources Long Island Sound has to offer.
For more information on the LIS Mentor Teacher Program, contact Outreach Coordinators Jimena Perez-Viscasillas (jbp255@cornell.edu) and Lillit Genovesi (lg543@cornell.edu), or visit https://longislandsoundstudy.net/get-involved/educational-resources/mentor-teacher-program/
Give back to Mother Earth from Monday, April 19 through Saturday, April 24 with DIY and other activities at your favorite Bronx River parks. On Thursday, volunteer to help clean up the Starlight Park from 10am-12pm. Sign up here!
Tune in via social media at noon on Friday for trivia night and learn about Earth Day history, key players in the environmental movement, and some not-so-fun facts about the environment. Click here for the zoom link. Finally, on Saturday, join a family-friendly day full of activities at Starlight Park from 10am to 2pm. Sign up and register here!
This year, Earthplace will be celebrating Earth Day for 28 days! Learn what environmental, social and corporate governance investing means during a free virtual event on April 22nd. Click this link to sign up!
In the evening on the 22nd, Earthplace will also be hosting a Nature Trivia to test your knowledge. On April 24th, join us at Earth Animal in Westport for a presentation on Birds of Prey from 11am – 2pm. There are 28 days of activities and you can click here to view them all!
The outflow of Scudder’s Pond goes directly to Hempstead Harbor. Keeping the pond free of plastic and other debris will prevent this trash from entering the harbor, spoiling our beaches, and harming wildlife. On April 24th, between 9am – 11am, Celebrate Earth Day by joining friends and neighbors for our spring pond cleanup! Bring gloves, 3-pronged rakes, a bucket for trash collecting, and wearing boots and long pants are strongly suggested. Meet at the Shore Road entrance of the pond. Parking is available at Tappen Beach. Call 516-801-6792 if you have any questions!
Celebrate Earth Day learning all about how you can help conserve our planet. Build your very own boat out of recycled materials, provided by Mystic Aquarium, and race down our Marsh Trek stream to see who has the fastest boat! The winner will receive a gift card from Deviant Donuts. The event will take place April 22nd from 11am – 2pm at Mystic Aquarium, CT. Click here for more information.
Also on April 22nd, from 6:30pm – 7:15pm via zoom, join our Director of Education & Conservation for cocktails (or mocktails) and conversations with members of the Aquarium team as we explore the conservation efforts that support the Aquarium’s mission. Click here to register.
Lastly, on April 24th 12pm – 4pm we are calling all teens to the Bluff Point State Park, Groton, CT! Join Mystic Aquarium’s teen Youth Conservation Corps volunteers in a day at the beach. Generously funded by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, this event provides teens the opportunity to learn about the impacts of marine debris and plastics on marine inhabitants and what young adults can do to protect the world’s oceans. Register here!
On April 22nd at 12pm, join The Nature Conservancy in celebrating the environmental changemakers among us. Co-hosted by CEO Jennifer Morris and Chief Scientist Katharine Hayhoe, this free virtual event will feature innovative, inspiring leaders from across the globe who are making our world a place where people and nature thrive together. You’ll learn something new, gain a little hope for our future and have some fun as we blend Q&As with fun celebrity shout-outs and a musical performance by Singer, Songwriter & Activist Aloe Blacc. Register here to join the celebration!
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