Photo: Macroinvertebrate collection activity at DITL training workshop for teachers and environmental educators; Credit: Oswego County Soil & Water Conservation District/E. Schreiner

Contacts: 

Nate Drag, NYSG Great Lakes Literacy Specialist, E: nwd4@cornell.edu, P: (716) 270-2408

Megan Kocher, NYSG Great Lakes Outreach Coordinator, E: mk2236@cornell.edu, P: (716) 270-2490

NYSG and partners engaged more than 650 middle school students in hands-on environmental stewardship learning along the shoreline of the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River region for the first time

Buffalo, NY, March 25, 2024 - “Day in the Life” (DITL) programs offered throughout New York State’s watersheds provide opportunities for youth to better understand environmental science and water quality. Prior to 2022, students in the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River (LOSLR) areas lacked such opportunities to connect with and learn about their local watersheds.

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and other partners, implemented a 2-year “Day in the Life of the Lake Ontario- St. Lawrence River Watershed” program. The program began with training workshops for teachers and educators and culminated with Student Summit events in October 2022 and 2023, at which students performed hands-on data collection to monitor water quality and the health of their local watershed.

Modeled after NY’s longstanding DITL programs, this new outreach over two years engaged 12 teachers and more than 650 middle school students from 8 school districts in classroom and field-based activities on land use, water quality, and environmental health. With 25 environmental education partners, 9 successful Student Summit events in 2023 served as a platform for students to engage with professionals while conducting their own monitoring activities to foster a better understanding of the watershed. Learn more about DITL at www.dec.ny.gov/education/125689.html.


DITL teacher-educator training workshop at Webster Park; Credit: DEC/E. Fell

Project Partners:

• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation


DITL Student Summit activity at Fort Niagara State Park; Credit: NYSG/M. Cochran


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, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has Facebook, Twitter/X, 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.