Education

Environmental

Education

Our hands-on, inquiry-based projects are community-focused. Through these projects, we strive to provide comprehensive access for underserved populations to high quality environmental education.

Education Projects

We provide school and community programs and an online collection of environmental explorations designed to expand environmental literacy.

C.I.T.E

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C.I.T.E

Communities Investigating Their Environment

CITE is a water quality community science initiative that began in St. John the Baptist Parish, driven by local parish residents. It walks community members through the process of identifying a waterway of concern, deciding on what test is most appropriate, collecting data, and using that data to design an action project using tools and training we provide.

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Parish Overview

St. John the Baptist Parish spans both banks of the Mississippi River and includes other waterways such as Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain. Natural bayous and human-made canals crisscross this landscape of water and earth to connect communities, natural areas, and industry.
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CITE

C.O.R.E

C.O.R.E

Collaboration on Restoration

CORE is a project that trains students in best practices for small scale wetland restoration to help manage stormwater within their communities. The objective is to create visible natural areas that enhance the urban tree canopy, restore local wetland habitat, and aid in stormwater management. The projects develop accessible wetland habitats while increasing biodiversity in the restored areas.
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Location Overview

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Abramson Sci Academy

Abramson is located near Joe W. Brown Park in New Orleans East. In Year 1 of their CORE project, 165 9th grade Abramson students learned about freshwater wetlands, biodiversity, and native plants in an effort to design a small-scale restoration project near their school. Hundreds of trees, native grasses, and other wetland plants were donated to the project from CORE partners.

Bald Cypress, Green Ash, Water Tupelo, Louisiana Iris and other wetland plants were planted at the Audubon Nature Center in April 2023. Follow or contribute to their iNaturalist biodiversity survey here.

Living School

Living School is a public charter school located in New Orleans East. Eighty-four 9th and 10th grade students learned about freshwater wetlands, biodiversity, and native plants in an effort to design a small-scale restoration project near their school. A greenhouse, hundreds of trees, native grasses, and other wetland plants were donated to the project from CORE partners.

Louisiana Iris and Eastern Gamagrass was planted at the school campus. Students are monitoring the plants for growth and mortality each month with equipment provided by CORE. In addition, hundreds of Bald Cypress, Green Ash, Water Tupelo, and Bulrush were planted in a community effort at Sprout New Orleans. Follow or contribute to the Sprout New Orleans iNaturalist biodiversity survey here.
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mildred osborne students

Mildred Osborne Charter School

Mildred Osbourne is located in New Orleans East. Students assisted in planting a rain garden to manage stormwater using native plants such as Louisiana Iris, Frogfruit, and Buttonbush. They also filled a beautiful planter box with native plants that will attract pollinators.

Over 1,500 Observations!

F.L.O.W

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F.L.O.W

Facilitating Learning in Our Watershed

FLOW enhances environmental education with extensive training for science teachers. Participating teachers collaborate to create locally focused curriculum and accompanying STEM kits. By creating their own hands-on experiences, teachers and students gain a more meaningful understanding of their watersheds.

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St. Bernard Parish

  • Training ten teachers and one district facilitator.
  • Developing comprehensive lesson plans incorporating field-based investigations.
  • Benefiting over 600 students in Title I schools.
  • Integrating curriculum into 7th-grade science classes focused on coastal land loss, water quality, and environmental topics.
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St.John Flow Teachers

St. John the Baptist Parish

  • Ongoing FLOW project focusing on 8th-grade students in marginalized rural communities.
  • Provides professional development for eight 8th-grade science teachers.
  • Developing an inclusive and locally-focused MWEE watershed curriculum.
  • Aims to impact around 400 8th-grade students.
  • Project location faces challenges such as industrial pollution and sea-level rise.
  • Project will follow a similar two-year implementation plan as in St. Bernard Parish.

Watershed Investigations

Watershed Investigations

Watershed Investigations is a water literacy project that takes place each semester with a Title I middle school in parishes within the Pontchartrain Basin. The project partners Pontchartrain Conservancy with a teacher and their students to design a field investigation in their local watershed.
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Deep Dive for Title I Schools

Our Watershed Investigation program is designed for educators and students in grades 6-8 in the Pontchartrain Basin. This hands-on, inquiry-driven program includes:

  1. Orientation session: Our Education staff introduce watersheds and help students identify potential investigation topics near their school.
  2. Monthly field visits: Over a semester, students conduct tests at their chosen field site, collecting data, graphing, forming hypotheses, and drawing conclusions. They learn how different data parameters correlate.
  3. Data presentation: At the end of the semester, students present their collected data in a format and to an audience of their choice.

Equipment for investigations, including water quality testing kits and micro-plastics filtration equipment, is provided by PC.

Applications are currently open for Fall 2024.

Consider Litter

Litter cleanup

Consider Litter

Consider Litter is designed to address the issue of land-based litter before it finds its way into local waterways. Partner sites commit to monthly litter and data collection at their chosen location. The data and feedback from local businesses, scientists, and nonprofits are used to identify opportunities for action projects. The goal of Consider Litter is to grow local litter-based stewardship in communities.

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New Harmony Consider Litter Training

Consider Litter in Practice

Partnering with New Harmony, Park Forest, and Eva Legard schools, Pontchartrain Conservancy implements the Consider Litter program, fostering environmental awareness and instilling responsible waste management practices in students.

Who Can Participate?

Are you a church, business, or school that would like to implement Consider Litter on your property or nearby? Anyone can participate as a Consider Litter site!
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Consider Litter Mentors

Consider Litter partners with scientists, businesses, and organizations to act as mentors and classroom speakers for participating sites. These stakeholder perspectives and diverse voices help build community coalitions that can help design and implement data-specific solutions to land-based litter.

Online Tools for Consider Litter

Escaped Trash Assessment Protocol (ETAP)

The ETAP, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Trash Free Waters program, is a quantitative survey tool used by Consider Litter participants which provides a standard method for collecting and assessing litter data.

Adopt a Catch Basin

For Consider Litter sites in Orleans Parish participants can adopt a catch basin located within their site to help improve drainage conditions throughout the city. Click the link to determine if there is an adoptable Catch Basin within your Consider Litter site.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program

The NOAA Marine Debris Program is the U.S. Federal government’s lead for addressing marine debris. The resource provides a Derelict Vessel Information Hub, a Debris Monitoring Toolbox, and so much more!

Create Your Own Prevention Project

Are you interested in developing your own prevention and mitigation project but don’t know where to start? Key components like safety, budget, and resources are something to consider before designing your project. Check out the resources below to start planning your own!

Education Resources

Our education resources are unique and carefully curated to help communities and educators increase their knowledge of locally relevant watershed issues utilizing real-world data and local case studies.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Thank You to Our Partners

Our Work

Pontchartrain Conservancy’s programmatic areas work throughout the 16 parishes of the Pontchartrain Basin to advance our mission.

Get Involved

Discover the many ways you can contribute to save Southeast Louisiana. Take part in a tree planting, aid in gardening and instruction at our Lighthouse, or giveback in other ways. We need you today!

Support Our Work

By supporting Pontchartrain Conservancy, you have the opportunity to help save the Louisiana you know and love. Your support enables us to build a sustainable, prosperous, and resilient region together.