Photos From Anacostia Watershed Society Tree Planting

I Never Knew Planting Trees Could Be So Much Fun!

This Saturday I volunteered with the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) at Magruder Park in Hyattsville, Maryland. I was really excited all week about going to plant trees, yet when my alarm went off at 7:45 am I really wondered why I was doing this to myself. But, I’m so glad I got myself up and out the door. I can honestly say that planting trees with AWS is one of my favorite experiences in DC so far!

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful fall day: 70 degrees and sunny, with not a single cloud in the sky. I met great people who were also excited about helping out the environment, and I learned how to plant trees correctly! We worked as partners for about two hours, and my partner and I were able to plant four little trees! I kind of want to go check on them to see how they are doing…

I STRONGLY recommend going to one of the Anacostia Watershed Society’s upcoming events. I got a chance to talk to Maddie Koenig, the volunteer coordinator at AWS. She said that AWS gets all sorts of people signed up for events: college student groups, church groups, high school students, retired individuals, and the list goes on.

Here’s a bit of advice to make it easier to get involved:
What to Expect: AWS provides everything you will need. Gloves, tools, trees, fertilizer: it’s all there for you. Maddie demonstrated exactly how to plant a tree correctly, and also gave us a lot of interesting background information on why planting trees is so important to the Anacostia Watershed. And yes, there are bathrooms available!

What to Bring: I brought a small drawstring bag with just a water bottle, camera (to take proud pictures next to my little trees), and wallet (for my metro card). Keep it light because you’ll be moving around and won’t want to leave your stuff sitting anywhere. Sunscreen and bugspray could also be useful.

What to Wear: Definitely wear long pants and closed-toed shoes. You will get a bit dirty, especially if it is wet outside.

How to Get There (If you go to American University like me): In all it took me a little over an hour to get to Magruder Park, but give yourself a little extra time. The final metro stop is West Hyattsville on the Green Line. Take the Red Line (toward Glenmont) and switch to the Green Line (toward Greenbelt) at Fort Totten. Go only one stop on the Green Line to West Hyattsville, and then get off. You will have to walk about 10 blocks (20 minutes) to get to the park. When you come out of the metro station, walk across the parking lot toward Kentucky Fried Chicken. Continue past the KFC on Hamilton Avenue until you reach 39th and Hamiliton, and you will see the park on your right. Or, if you get lost like me, you can go into a random liquor store to ask how to get to Magruder Park and they will point you in the right direction (thank goodness)!

In the coming weeks I’ll post information on upcoming AWS events. I may even want to participate again myself because I had so much fun the first time! In the mean time, check out the AWS calendar of events.
http://www.anacostiaws.org/calendar

Tree Planting Event This Saturday!

This Saturday October 15th from 10:00am-1:00pm I will be volunteering at a Tree Planting event for the Anacostia Watershed Society! If anyone wants to join me, just let me know. Not only will I get to plant little trees, but the AWS staff will talk about history and ecology of the watershed and point out interesting wildlife. Plus, all the supplies will be provided AND you get a snack!!

Stay posted for my recap of the event!

Check It Out: DC EnvironMentors

Guess what I got to do today?? I got to interview Jackie Krisch, the Director of DC EnvironMentors!! Plus, Jackie is a 2008 graduate of American University, where I am currently a Washington Semester student. Here’s a recap of my interview with her, with information on why (and how) students should get involved at EnvironMentors.

So, What is EnvironMentors?

EnvironMentors is a national college access program that helps prepare high school students for college-level environmental science work. Students are paired with mentors who are college students, educators, or science and environmental professionals. The high school students work with their mentors on a research project, with the top projects receiving college scholarships. Students gain the skills to not only get into college, but also to succeed in college. For this reason, the program focuses on improving college-level writing skills and teaching students to design their own experiments that include databases, academic journal articles, and expert interviews. Nearly 2,500 DC high students have participated in EnvironMentors, with 96% of these students graduating from high school and 92% accepted to college. For more information, you should check out their website: http://ncseonline.org/program/environmentors

How can a busy college student get involved?

-Become a Mentor: (3 times per month, 1-2 hour meeting) Being a mentor is an amazing opportunity to really impact a high school student’s life. Mentors come from a variety of places, so the experience is also a great networking opportunity for college students who are looking to find jobs after college. The mentors and students meet in a group, so volunteers get to meet other college students, educators, and professionals who are also passionate about education and the environment.

-Experimental Design Workshops: (2 hours) Students who are interested in getting involved, but don’t have time to commit to being a mentor should contact EnvironMentors about participating in an Experimental Design Workshop. This opportunity would be great for a Biology major, because college students at the workshops help the high school students brainstorm how to do their experiments.

-Reviewing Students’ Work: (2 hours per meeting, 4 meetings) The experiments and written assignments are judged for the scholarship component of the program, so there are opportunities to get involved in the review process of the students’ work.

-University Library Visits: EnvironMentors works with universities in DC to bring their students to university libraries. College students could work with EnvironMentors to set up these visits and help the high school students learn how to use the library for their research projects.

-Career Advisor: (2 hours at the Environmental Career Workshop) Share your story of your college journey with students in order to broaden their understanding of an environmental career.

If you are thinking about jobs after college…

I know that after college I hope to be involved in an environmental organization, so I asked Jackie to describe what it is like working for EnvironMentors. She said that working at a small non-profit is a great job for someone who considers himself or herself a “jack of all trades.” Their staff is only fifteen people, but within this group is a wide range of skill sets. It sounds like a really fun place to work and take on a lot of responsibility.

So, that’s the recap of my exciting first interview of this project! I had a lot of fun speaking to Jackie about EnvironMentors, and I will continue to keep you posted on ways to get involved with this and other environmental organizations in DC.

Where should I go?

In the coming weeks I am going to be interviewing people and volunteering at environmental organizations around DC. This week I emailed 24 organizations about my project, and I have already heard back from a few of them. Stay tuned for my interview recaps and volunteer experiences at the Anacostia Watershed Society and the EnvironMentors program! I’ll be including helpful advice on how to get to these places (I struggle with this sometimes, so there may also be stories about me getting lost on the way). I’ll also talk about what to wear, what to bring, and what to expect if you want to volunteer at one of these organizations. I want to make it as easy as possible for more college students to get involved and give back to the environment!! I’m pretty excited to see what I find out!

If you have any experience volunteering at environmental organizations in the DC area, I’d love to hear about your experiences. Also, feel free to post suggestions on places you’d like me to visit and blog about.

Why I care.

So you might be wondering, why did this girl decide to write a blog dedicated to the environment? Well, here’s the story.

My freshman year of college I was randomly assigned to a mandatory colloquium course titled, “Whiskey’s for Drinking, Water’s for Fighting.” Though I went in with no idea of what to expect, the professor really opened my eyes to the critical water shortages in the West that I had never really comprehended. I mean, I grew up in Minnesota, the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, where basically you dig a hole and it will fill up with water. I learned about the complexities of water issues, which involve domestic needs, agricultural economies, energy production, fish populations, Native American cultures, and the list goes on. Add to these factors a dramatic history of corruption and power struggles over obtaining water, and I was hooked.

The U.S. and the world face many environmental problems today, such as deforestation, climate change, and water shortages, just to name a few. I want people to care about these critical issues as much as I do, so it bothers me that so many people just leave these issues to be solved by someone else. I know there is not an easy solution for any environmental issue, but I want to help as much as I am able. I am currently a Research and Publications Intern at the Environmental Law Institute and I have focused my college studies on environmental policy and politics. I hope to one day become an environmental lawyer with the passion and ability to address environmental policy flaws.

As a college student I know it is difficult to find time to volunteer and give back to the environment. I have to balance challenging classes, a part-time job, an internship, tennis practices and conditioning, and other activities while still finding time to sleep a little bit. But, as a busy student I also know that even the busiest student could always find a few hours a month to volunteer. So, I have decided that I am going to take advantage of my one semester in DC and get involved in the environmental organizations that DC has to offer, and I want to help other college students do the same.

Why I’m Here.

While in DC I have had so many amazing new experiences: new school, new internship, new friends, new places to explore. And now, as the latest in my list of DC adventures, I am writing my first ever blog post!

I want to use this blog to help college students learn how to get involved in organizations where they can give back to the environment. The blog will document my progress for my Activism and Social Media course’s “Do Something” project. I plan to contact, visit, and volunteer at as many environmental organizations that are headquartered in Washington DC as possible over the course of this semester. This blog will document my experiences at each organization, which will include descriptions of my volunteer experience, interviews, photos, advice on how to get involved at each organization, and whatever else I learn about each organization. I want this blog to be a sort of guidebook and forum for other students who don’t have much time in their busy lives but want to get involved in protecting the environment.

As a current Washington Semester student, I know that many of us are excited to explore DC by doing and seeing as much as possible in the three short months that we are here. I want people to realize that once they have visited the monuments, museums, and Capitol Hill, there are so many other ways to get involved and explore this city. Washington DC is the perfect place to get involved in environmental protection because so many incredible national and international organizations have their headquarters or offices in DC. I want to use this project as a chance to make a difference in a problem I am passionate about by helping other students learn how to get involved with important environmental organizations. I believe that volunteering and getting involved at environmental organizations will add greatly to my experience in DC, as it would for any college student who has the opportunity to live in this amazing city. Our nation needs more young people who are passionate about protecting the environment, who then act on this passion by getting involved in some way. Students in DC are lucky because there are many amazing options for geting involved, so I hope my blog will help students realize that even busy college students can benefit from volunteering and giving back.

P.S. After you read my blog, please post comments about your own experiences at the environmental organizations I discuss or other organizations! I’d really love your feedback!!!