Blog Entry #20

I have spent this week researching a list of questions given to me by my mentor and also did a small amount of work volunteering for the Connemara Conservancy in Allen, Texas. I spent a lot of time researching how to get more young people interested in environmental fields. The ideas I liked most were getting rid of the stigma that exists for some people and focusing on making hands-on projects available for kids. I am going to focus on learning about hands-on projects because more exposure will reduce the stigma.

I provided some answers to this question in Blog Entry #18 and would like to include more projects for little kids. School gardens are good idea, as is making sure that students have a hand in all planting and sustainability projects. Schools should focus on native plants so sustainability can double as ecology education, and recycling/water conservation initiatives have serious potential. They can easily become a competition which will make them more successful and they also reinforce good behaviors that may stick with students for years to come.

I did some wildflower planting with the Connemara Conservancy and plan to do more work with them as they are focused on native plant restoration (one of my biggest interests) and they have a lot of work for me to help with.