It's become an annual tradition for high school students from New York City and its upstate watershed communities to get together to talk about the science and policy of the NYC watershed. Last week, the Ashokan Center hosted 30 students from John Bowne HS, PS 186, Onteora, South Kortright, Margaretville HS and the Northern Catskill Occupational Center at Otsego Northern Catskill BOCES for a symposium. Students heard from watershed experts, and gave their own presentations on environmental issues in the region.
The symposium is part of GrowNYC's Watershed Education program. Over the past ten years, says GrowNYC's Amanda Gentile, students in the program have planted over 5,800 trees and 4,000 willows in New York's Catskill-Delaware watershed.
From March 16, here's a snapshot of some of the participants getting a pondside talk from Ashokan Center environmental educator Brian Joyner. Photo by Catskill Watershed Corporation's Diane Galusha.