Contacts:

Megan Kocher, NYSG Great Lakes Outreach Coordinator, E: mk2236@cornell.edu, P: (716) 645-3011

Buffalo, NY, December 16, 2022 - Eight Western New York high school students shared lessons they learned about environmental justice and water quality Wednesday at Reinstein Woods in suburban Buffalo.

The 10-week Environmental Justice Stewards Pilot Program was funded by Reinstein Woods through a Great Lakes Basin Small Grant. During this time period, students analyzed and graphed local data to identify trends that they later shared in a scientific report and through creative ways, which include posters, infographics, music, and short videos.

Reinstein Woods covers almost 300 acres and four miles of trails through wetlands and forests that are only 15 minutes from downtown Buffalo, NY.

This was one of eight environmentally-focused youth education projects funded in 2021 via the Great Lakes Basin Small Grants program, which is supported by New York Sea Grant, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program is funded through the New York State Environmental Protection Fund and Article 14 of Environmental Conservation Law.

Visit NYSDEC website for more information on New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda. More information on New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants projects  available at www.nyseagrant.org/glsmallgrants. And you'll find additional New York Great Lakes-related information at www.nyseagrant.org/nygreatlakes.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.