Groundwork Hudson Valley Changing Places. Changing Lives.

The Saunders High School students who have been working with the Saw Mill River Coalition on a comprehensive study of fish species in the Saw Mill conducted their last survey in September, as part of the Saw Mill River BioBlitz. This proved a satisfying end to a successful year-long project which involved over 30 Saunders High School students. From the 30 students who were trained by Dr. Joseph Rachlin and Dr. Barbara Warkentine of Lehman College and Mr. Harry Hall from Saunders High School, a group of core fish study students developed. These students were especially interested in the project and participated in various surveys, training their peers when new students decided to participate.

In the last survey, members of the core group who had not yet graduated and left for college, trained college students from Sarah Lawrence College and students from Riverside High School to seine for and identify fish species at six different sites along the River. This group performed as the fish experts for the BioBlitz study and their data was included amongst information collected by professional scientists who specialized in a variety of different areas.

One Saunders High School student, Raquel Romero, took the initiative to do her senior thesis “Tech-Prep” project on the fish study and generated a sophisticated, comprehensive report of the findings, comparing them to past studies.

To view Raquel’s report and colorful presentation, click on the links below:

• Fish Study Introduction
• Fish Study Report Analysis
• Fish Study Report Data
• Fish Study Presentation Part 1
• Fish Study Presentation Part 2

Through discussions with Harry Hall, the Saunders teacher who coordinated the study, and local experts from the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Office of Fisheries, Coalition staff generated a Protocol for Future Fish Studies. Please feel free to read the protocol and check back in the spring for follow-up study results.

A note from Bob Walters, Science Barge Director

The Science Barge seems quiet and cold (brrr) after the hustle and bustle of our first year on the Yonkers waterfront. The Barge was a huge success and had visitors from all over the world including media from Japan, Canada, Antigua, Germany and the Netherlands. It was a great day when Dan Rather formerly of 60 minutes showed up with his news crew to do a show on sustainable agriculture.

My hat goes off to the creator of the Barge, Dr. Ted Kaplow, and his team: Zak Adams, Jen Nelkin, and Ben Lindsley. The floating urban farm they built attracted huge interest in recycling hydroponics powered by sustainable energy.

Our working crew on the barge for Groundwork Hudson Valley: Devon Spencer, Ann Megaro, Emily Eder, Curt Collier, Francisco Laso and others made the Barge an exciting learning center. We were open seven days a week starting in April and extended our season into November because of demand. Over 3000 students attended programs on the barge and colleges such as Penn State, NYU, Pace Bronx Community and others came.

The volunteer crew in many ways was the heart and soul of the Barge. They jumped in and made things happen that would not have been possible without them. I am always reluctant to mention individual names because it was a team effort that made it work, Ely Niven was our go-to guy when the impossible needed to be done. It was he that designed and built our rolling railing at the Barge entrance. Jonathan and his family, Jon Jr., Binta, Micah and Josh were an incredible team. Josh was great and didn’t let the fact he is only five years old get in the way of his good work. Various individuals, you know who you are, lead tours, composted, harvested worms, planted crops, picked aphids, fed fish and completed a myriad of other tasks. The volunteers made the Barge a happy place.

Our weekends were filled with public programs and visitors. Thousands of folks, from moms with strollers to senior citizens, came on board. The visitors “oohed and aahed” as we taught about recirculating hydroponics that grew 25 foot long tomatoes vines, melons that grew swinging in the air, catfish that provided nutrients for growing vegetables and hydroponics that grew seven time more vegetables than traditional agriculture. It was also the little things: Venus Fly traps, red wiggler worms, and sensitivity plants that folded their leaves at a touch of a hand, that amazed the kids.

We had over twenty public education programs that allowed visitors to do things like help adjust the inclination of the solar collectors, build a hand-made kite out of recycled materials, paint a peat pot, plant and take home an heirloom tomato and more. Two major events were the floating sculpture exhibit, inspired by Curt Collier, and Riverfest. Riverfest, Yonkers’ premier Waterfront Festival, alone bought a thousand people in one day to the Science Barge

One program that was wonderful success was the Honda grant intern program. Five students from various Yonkers Public High Schools worked on the Barge giving tours, working in the greenhouse, and otherwise making themselves indispensable. Bryan, Christian, Michael, Pasquale and David were great.

Thanks must go out to our supporters who made this all possible. The New York Power Authority, the City of Yonkers, Honda America, Whole Foods, Hitachi, Community Energy, Con Edison and others were our supporters.

Special thanks also go to Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Board of Directors led by President Rob Baron. They contributed their time and energy to make it all work.

Ann Megaro, our wonderful grower says that the growing season starts on Valentines Day. We will keep the Barge open on Sundays for maintenance and the building and upgrade of exhibits. We invite all to come down and help with their ideas, energy, and hands.

Thanks to All,

Bob Walters, Science Barge Director for Groundwork Hudson Valley

Our Office Is Moving!

In January, Groundwork will be moving its office from 6 Wells Avenue to a larger office just a couple blocks away. The new office will be located at 22 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Yonkers, NY 10701. We are very excited about this new location, as added space means room for growth (and more space)! Stay tuned for possible volunteer activities before and after the move!

Here comes the rain and the snow! Protect yourself from nasty weather while supporting healthy rivers and streams. Umbrellas with pollution prevention messages on them are being distributed to high schools and middle schools throughout the watershed. They are $8 each and all of the profits from the sales will go towards the school. Contact us to find out about participating schools, or if you are a teacher or student interested in getting involved. You can also buy them through our office, or order them online, and we will distribute the proceeds to one of the local schools.

In January, The Saw Mill River Coalition will launch its new pollution prevention program, called High School River Watch. High school students within the Saw Mill River watershed will be invited to form River Watch Groups in which they will work consistently on the portion of the river nearest their school. Activities will include storm drain marking, trash pick-ups, surveys of the trash in the river, invasive vine-cuttings, and participation in The Great River Clean-Up, an event currently scheduled for late May of 2010. With stewardship groups all throughout the watershed taking action in their communities, we can create great improvements in the health and beauty of our river! Please contact Emily Eder at (914) 375-2151 or emily@groundworkhv.org if you are interested in getting involved.

Groundwork begins a new year of its Educational Outreach program at Riverside High School. Thanks to a grant through the Westchester County Youth Bureau, Groundwork is able to partner with a high school teacher to enrich one of his lab periods with real-world examples of environmental work in their neighborhood. Along with lessons about climate change, environmental remediation, community gardens, the Saw Mill River, Yonkers history, urban trails, nutrition, etc. we will also take the class on 6 field trips to places like the Science Barge, the Aqueduct Trail, community gardens, and other sites where the students will participate in hands-on projects. These students will be invited at the end of the year to apply for a paid position on our Groundwork Green Team.

While the Science Barge is closed for the winter, we will be making classroom visits, giving an introduction to Science Barge curriculum and leading students in hands-on activities, engaging with concepts such as “food miles,” composting, nutrition, food webs, and of course sustainable agriculture. For more information, please contact Devon Spencer, Director of Science Barge Education at (914) 375-2151 or Devon@groundworkhv.org.