Part of the Problem, Part of the Solution - WYSE 2014 Day 6

Friday morning, the toll of the week (and all that dancing at the gala, and late night conversations, and good-byes….) was clearly evident.

The Delegates had one last meeting - the closing ceremony.  We heard some wonderful words of encouragement from Amy Takayama-Perez, to go out and be the change we wanted to see in the world.  WYSE Director, Richard Friesner, celebrated the occasion by reading Dr. Suess' The Lorax.  It's all about environmental sustainability don't you know...

We had a great week.   We may never know what rhymes with orange...

…except door-hinge (when you say it slow and with a southern accent!), but I was very proud of all of the members of the Orange Group at WYSE.  You inspired me and for that I am grateful!

Aloha,

Kevin

"Developing Your Future" - WYSE Day 5

Thursday started with a presentation by Amy Takayama-Perez on the College Admission process, advice for submitting a good college application, and information on college credit and application and scholarship benefits available to WYSE graduates - valuable information I used for my own college-bound kids.

After hearing from Ms. Takayama-Perez,  Delegates split from their color groups to meet with Jerry Barney and his staff at "Our Task" - an exercise geared for youth to help them understand the global ecological threat from current practices and to start to envision a different way of living that's ecologically sustainable.    

Here, the Delegates use the "airplane" exercise to build familiarity and trust prior to openly discussing the problems of the world.  

Everyone should google these two speeches by Severn Suzuki and Birke Baehr on YouTube.  Very inspirational!

Here, Delegates started working in small groups to identify the most pressing global ecological challenges.

We broke for lunch and then heard a great presentation from the EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy.  She's a great, plain-spoken speaker with an amazing command of the facts.

Returning to the Our Task exercise, Gerry Barney, the author of the Global 2000 Report to the President on sustainability, gives the Delegates his perspective on the problems of our unsustainable consumption.  See his amazing bio here:  http://www.geraldbarney.com/AboutPage.html.  What an honor to have met him!

Next, the Delegates were encouraged to come up with a "Plan B" - to craft a plan for a different way of living in harmony with the earth's resources and carrying capacity.

Art as well as text was encouraged.

Finally, the Delegates gave a short presentation on their group's Plan B and they critiqued each and voted on the one they liked the best.

After all the work and hard thinking that went on at the Summit, the Delegates finally got the chance to cut loose at the gala.  What a fine looking bunch!

On the way to the Gala, we stopped to take a group picture at the statue of George Mason.

National Geographic, the Capitol, and Mason Arlington Concurrent Sessions - WYSE Day 4

Wednesday we had breakfast early and then loaded the buses for travel to the National Geographic HQ in DC.  Here we are making our way... 

We learned about the Youth Explorer program for students 18-24 and this one to raise money for better corrals (Bomas) so African tribesmen don't kill lions that prey on unprotected livestock.
  

and this program to draw attention to water usage and to register to get emails on easy ways to conserve and save water resources (google:  Change the Course)…

I love Yogi Berra truisms and this one was recalled during one of the presentations…

Then we heard from the real deal on the fracking issue - Andrew Williams representing the Environmental Defense Fund and Stephanie Meadows representing the American Petroleum Institute (moderated by Talia Buford of the media outlet POLITICO).
    

After the formal presentations we had the chance to explore the Nat Geo exhibits on the history of Nat Geo and one on Peru.  Meanwhile, the Orange Group boys went on a safari of their own...  

Later, we made our way to the Capitol steps for a group picture.  Here are some of the Orange Group that stuck around for a team pic…  What a smart looking bunch!

After that the Delegates were free to explore the mall.  As for me, I headed to the National Museum of Art.  Here's a picture of the metal tree sculpture outside.  It was cool!

Here are the National Archives...

Vincent Van Gogh, one of my favorite artists, said some pretty smart things…

After the Capitol, we headed to George Mason University's Arlington campus for a dinner where we we were to hear from Martin Chavez, voted one of the top "green" mayors in the US.  But first I needed to power up!  I used a power strip and soon uninvited parasites showed up!

Delegates posing with Mayor Chavez.

No rest for the weary… Next the Delegates attended a number of sessions on energy, the student conservation association, elephant and rhino research, the UN program on ecosystem management, environmental engineering, and climate change.  As for me, I attended the session on social entrepreneurship.  In this session, Delegates learned how to use market-based solutions to change social behavior for benefits to the business and it's target audience.

Spilt into sub-groups, each picked a problem and with some guidance pitched their ideas for entrepreneurial solutions.

Tired and inspired, we headed for the barn.  The threat of rain did not diminish orange group spirit or their devil may care attitude!

Field Visits and Hydrologic Fracturing Simulation: WYSE Day 3

Tuesday Orange Group Delegates left the GMU campus of a variety of field visits:  to learn about sustainable farming and veterinary medicine at Frying Pan Farms, a behind the scenes tour of the National Aquarium, to learn about conservation management of a number of rare species at the Smithsonian Conservation Biological Institute, and to learn about conservation education, water quality monitoring and advocacy with the Friends of the Rappahannock.

I was assigned to go with the students headed to Fredericksburg to meet with the Friends of the Rappahannock.  We were welcomed by Bryan Hofman, the Programs Manager, and he told us about the work of FOR and his professional path to his position there.

Here Shreya is providing Bryan and his staff with a copy of her CD that is a musical celebration of the world's rivers.

Learning more about the Rappahannock and the work FOR conducts throughout the river's watershed.

During the breakout sessions, the WYSE Director, Richard Friesner, lead a discussion on the value of plants and guided Delegates through some plant ID exercises using book descriptions, line drawings and information of plant ranges, and Delegates also experimented using computer apps using photo recognition software.  

Down by the river,  Delegates cycled through two stations.  One had the students learn about river-dwelling organisms and how they could be used to grade water quality int he river.  Here, the Delegates are keying out a variety of preserved river critters and putting them into categories based on their sensitivity to clean water.

Once that was done, the Delegates were encourage to put on some waders and collect live specimens in the Rappahannock River to try to use what they learned to gauge the water quality in the river based on what they could catch with a variety of collection nets

Once river bottom gravel was collected, Delegates sorted through it to find animals living in the river.

In the other station, Delegates learned about how to measure dissolved oxygen and river turbidity as other indicators of river health.

I bet you thought you were through with Chemistry for the summer, but no!

 I think we all had a great time and learned a lot with the Friends of the Rappahannock!

Later that day, and after some pre-reading assignments about hydrologic fracturing, or "fracking", the Delegates participated in a mock public meeting regarding tracking in the George Washington National Forest.  This is actually a real live on ongoing debate in which the US Forest Service needs to decide if it will be allowed.  No official decision has been made by the USFS yet, so the topic was very real and ever-present.  

In the simulation, Delegates were randomly assigned roles of the US Forest Service (the deciders), the local water authority, Chesapeake Energy, the Virginia Petroleum Council, Rockingham County Board of Supervisors, Trout Unlimited, Agusta County Board of Supervisors, the Environmental Defense Fund, property owners (for and against), the White House, and Politico (members of the press).  Each group of students had to make arguments to represent their roles' interest and then debate each others position to convince the USFS representatives to rule in their favor.

Here, the three USFS representatives listen to each group's statement of opinion. 

Chesapeake Energy makes an impassioned plea for opening the George Washington National Forest to fracking.

Surrounded by differing factions, the USFS weighs the pros and cons of the arguments and discussion out loud.

    
In the end, the USFS agreed that fracking should not be allowed in the GWNF until such time as more research shows that it can occur safely but held out hope that fracking could be done in the future.

We had a post-simulation discussion, and then followed with our group meeting about Wednesday's events at National Geographic, the Capitol, and more meetings and speakers.  Another long day!