Love A Sea Turtle and NC Estuarium Host The River Guardians Environmental Symposium
The River Guardians Environmental Symposium will include 130 eighth grade students from regional schools that participate in water monitoring of the Tar-Pamlico River through the Love a Sea Turtle (LAST) River Guardians Project. This will be a special day for these students as it rewards their water monitoring efforts with activities that deepen their appreciation of water quality by connecting it to the health of living creatures in the estuary.
On the day of the event, the students will be divided into groups and rotate through 4 stations:
* Water monitoring aboard the Belle of Washington cruise ship – with Sarah Piwinski, Program Manager for EarthEcho International. She will conduct water monitoring with the students at different locations in the river as the Belle traverses the Pamlico.
* The Pollution Cycle (also aboard the Belle) – with Dr. Jamie Dewitt of East Carolina University. She will show students how contaminated wastewater travels through treatment systems before being returned to waterways, though often not entirely cleaned of pollutants.
* Gyotaku – led by Estuarium educator Russ Chesson. He will engage students in the creative art of gyotaku (fish printing), and explain how it originated with Japanese fishermen as a way to document their fishery as well as demonstrate reverence and conservation for their catch.
* Estuarium Educational Workshop – Students will go through the Estuarium to learn more about North Carolina’s estuarine region. During the tour, they will hear an overview of major fisheries in the Pamlico estuary from Estuarium educator Tom Stroud.
