On a warm and sunny May Saturday, our Youth Climate Institute (YCI) member, Juliette Verderaime, a student at Hereford High School, hosted her very own Action Plan fulfilling all her requirements to successfully complete the YCI program.
Over the past school year, Juliette has been a member of the Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER® chapter of the Youth Climate Institute. An Initiative focused on getting high school students involved in the conversation surrounding climate change and environmental sustainability. Juliette spent the cold winter months engaging in conversations surrounding important topics with Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER® staff including data centers, Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), and environmental monitoring, all topics important to Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER®. However, the final requirement of the YCI program for the member is to create an action plan. An action plan can be described as primarily student, led boots-on-the-ground activities that address an active environmental concern in the community. Juliette took a particular interest to the water quality monitoring programs of Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER®. She took the lead on planning a water quality monitoring event, creating outreach materials, and leading the conversation during the event.
About her time in YCI and her Action Plan, Juliette says,
My time in the Youth Climate Institute gave me the opportunity to learn more about climate change and its effects on the environment while also showing me how students can make a difference in their communities. Throughout the program, I learned about environmental issues, sustainability, and leadership, which inspired me to create my own action plan focused on water quality monitoring.
For my action plan, I organized a water quality monitoring day at a local stream where members of the community were able to participate in hands-on environmental testing. During the event, we tested the stream’s salinity and nitrate levels using community science based practices, used a YSI water quality device to measure water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen and pH, and searched for macroinvertebrates to help evaluate the health of the ecosystem. The event went very well and gave participants the chance to learn more about the importance of water quality and how scientists monitor aquatic environments.
This action plan allowed members of the community to become more involved and engaged with environmental conservation. By participating in the testing activities, people were able to better understand how water quality impacts wildlife, ecosystems, and even local communities. The project also helped to raise awareness and encourage others to care more about protecting the environment. Overall, this experience helped me strengthen my leadership skills while making a positive impact within my community.
We would like to congratulate and thank Juliette for all the hard work she has done at Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER® this past year. As she was our inaugural YCI member, she paved the way in creating a program that we hope many high school students will take advantage of in the future here at the Sparks Bank Nature Center home of the Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER®. We wish her the best of luck as she will continue her passion for conservation at the University of Maryland this fall. As the fight for conservation and sustainability requires new voices and ideas, we at Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER® are proud of Juliette’s dedication and progress towards completing her action plan
For anyone who is currently in high school or will be next year and is interested in climate or the environment please consider joining our YCI chapter this fall. You will get to plan and take part in your very own action plan. Get hands on experience with environmental monitoring while building resume skills for college and job applications. If this interests you please visit the Youth Climate Institute’s website by clicking this link to learn more about the program and how to get signed up.