Read the article here: http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/magazines/scienceworld/pdfs/SW-041910-BARGE.pdf

Groundwork USA is seeking a dynamic individual to be its first National Services Director. Must be a highly organized, detail oriented entrepreneur with strong administrative, writing, communication, and finance/budgeting skills.  Successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to adhere strictly to deadlines while managing multiple projects and have experience in business management and/or organizational development. They will be a self starter with a collaborative spirit.  Experience with grants management is a plus.   Knowledge of community development, volunteer stewardship and environmental restoration is helpful but not required.  A solid work and/or academic history with BA/BS is required.  MPA/MPP/MBA is a plus. Click here to download full job posting.

For the past 6 weeks a group of 9 AmeriCorps  members have been working hard in Yonkers and surrounding communities with Groundwork Hudson Valley. They completed a tremendous amount of work, building community gardens and rain gardens, helping on The Science Barge, clearing invasive vines along the Saw Mill River, volunteering at St. Christopher’s Inc. in Dobbs Ferry, and much more! Click here for a press release written by Lily Dover, a member of AmeriCorps.

CNN On the Science Barge-Hydroponics at Sea

Click here to watch the video.

The Saw Mill River Coalition is working with municipalities within The Saw Mill River watershed to locate areas for model demonstration rain gardens.

A rain garden is a living machine where form meets function. They are designed to soak up rain water, mainly from roofs, but also from driveways, patios, roadways, and parking lots. In developed areas, the majority of rainwater is flushed onto streets where it picks up oil, silt, and other pollutants and then funnels into storm drains, dumping into our rivers and streams, polluting the water, creating floods, and endangering natural habitat.

During heavy rains, a rain garden fills with a few inches of water which then soaks into the soil, going through a natural filtration process before making its way into the groundwater or an adjacent stream. Compared to a patch of lawn, a rain garden allows about 30% more water to soak into the ground. Rain gardens consist of a variety of plants including native flowers, grasses, and trees that are home to local wildlife. They are a beautiful and beneficial addition to any landscape.

The Department of Environmental Conservation is conducting a study of The American eel (Anguilla rostrata) at various sites along the Hudson River. They chose Groundwork Hudson Valley to coordinate a study in Yonkers, which will be the southernmost site in the study.

The American Eel is a migratory fish that is born in the Sargasso Sea, a region of the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda, that migrates all the way to the Hudson River as tiny “glass eels” each spring and then swims up small Hudson River tributaries to mature. In the first week of the study we have found a dozen glass eels at the mouth of the Saw Mill River, an important Hudson River tributary. We are testing for eels further north in the river in Yonkers to see if they are making it beyond the mouth. The species is in decline over much of its range, making tributaries where they can safely mature very important.

This Yonkers study comes at a perfect time, before the groundbreaking for the Daylighting project, that will reveal and restore sections of the river that run underground. If the study finds that man-made obstacles are making it impossible for the small eels to get up the river, we may be able to engineer changes to accommodate them. To get involved in the study please contact Emily Ederat 914-375-2151.

On Wednesday, April 14th The Science Barge hosted a small news crew from the sister Brazilian television networks, TV Amazonica and Amazon Sat who are producing a series of informative TV news stories on critical environmental issues, to be jointly produced for broadcast throughout Brazil. The Charter School in Yonkers brought their 4th grade class for a tour. They had a great time in front of the camera and sent green tidings from Yonkers to Brazil!

The U.S. Department of State’s Office of Broadcast Support (OBS) in Washington D.C. invites serious, credible journalists to come to the U.S. to produce TV news reports and documentaries on subjects and themes of need or interest in their country. To that end, the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia and the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. are sponsoring this project, through a grant to TV Amazonica and Amazon Sat.

These timely reports will be taped in the United States to highlight “Successful ‘Green’ Experiences in the U.S.” that can serve as examples to the Amazon region. To that end, the series will examine efforts being made by the U.S. Federal government, State and Municipal governments, businesses, and private citizens to increase energy efficiency, and combat climate change, as well as preserve “green” spaces and natural resources.

During our local high school’s Spring Break we brought together the Our Folks intergenerational program with The Environmental Food Team to go on a couple of field trips and get to know each other. The groups met at Phillipse Manor Hall for a tour of the historic site and also took a bus trip to The Cloisters, the branch of the Metropolitan Museum devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. Located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in northern Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park, the building incorporates elements from five medieval French cloisters.

The Our Folks Team from Riverside High School have been working since last summer to make needed repairs in the homes of older adults in the community. During these projects, the seniors and the youth get to know each other and socialize, helping to bridge the gap between generations. The Environmental Food Team is another group of older adults in the community who take classes at Phillpse Manor Hall once a week with Groundwork’s Curt Collier where they learn about the history of food and current issues surrounding nutrition and agriculture. Now that The EFT has been introduced to Our Folks students, they are also interested in signing up for Our Folks projects.

On April 2, 2010, the NY Times published an article about a 20-year mapping project, carried out by the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.  They are hoping to save dozens of endangered native plants using the information that they have gathered. Read the article or check out the mapping project to find out which native plants are growing near you.

Thanks to a generous donation from Good Ideas, Inc., The Science Barge is now home to two new composting bins: a Compost Wizard Tumbler and a Compost Wizard Standing Bin. Composting is an essential component of the work we do here on The Science Barge, as a key part of our mission is to produce nutritious food with zero waste. An expanded on-board composting program will ensure that we remain true to our zero-waste policy by increasing our capacity to compost all of the plant waste that is a by-product of pruning and harvesting crops, along with the food waste brought to the Barge in student lunches. While the valuable nutrients found in organic matter are too often lost to landfills, our composting program turns “waste” into beneficial nutrient-rich soil amendments that can be used to grow plants on-board the Barge and elsewhere. Students and visitors on The Science Barge get to dig in and get their hands dirty by participating in our “Green Lunch Challenge” and other on-board education programs. These programs teach students the importance of reducing waste through composting, recycling and reusing. Click here to read more about the ways we demonstrate sustainable urban agriculture on The Science Barge.