Kayla Hira and Kaden Melton matched with Blue Heron Nature Preserve (BHNP) this semester. Learning from Denise Cardin and other members of the team at Blue Heron, they set up weather stations in different parts of the preserve to learn about the environmental impact of urban forests and wetlands. They also performed a survey of trees at both of their homes and GSU’s downtown campus. Learn about their project, the data they collected, and the stakes of this information below:
Nya Nicholson developed these informative guides for coexisting peacefully with urban coyotes after identifying a set of common concerns in reports of coyote sightings for her community partner, the Atlanta Coyote Project.
For their community partner, Wild Nest Bird Rehab, Grace Brawn and Diane Kong created a presentation to inform the public about ways to mitigate injuries to migrating songbirds passing through Atlanta each year. Their presentation emphasizes window collisions, a major cause of bird deaths annually and an event that brought 30 Cedar Waxwings into their care this semester, only three of which were able to survive their injuries.
Sydney Erickson, Tiffany Le, and Mina Pham spent their semester volunteering with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. They cleaned out trash traps and analyzed their contents, tested the water after a major equipment failure at the RM Clayton Wastewater Treatment Facility resulted in unsafe levels of e. coli bacteria in parts of the river, and helped with events like Sweep the Hooch.
These students documented their journal on an Instagram account dedicated to the experience:
https://www.instagram.com/crk_volunteer_gsu/
They also discuss their research and findings in this accessible and engaging presentation: Service Learning Final Project
Dua Spall and Raihaanah Bint Abdullah Muslim worked with the Dunwoody Nature Center, an organization with an emphasis on outdoor environmental education. To help communicate this organization’s message, they produced an infographic about the importance of environmental education for young children with evidence from DNC’s record of providing quality, public environmental-educational programming.
Kelly Clarke and Sheryl Varghese volunteered with the Intown Atlanta Chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS) this semester. They worked on various projects, from plant sales to park cleanups, with their community partner, learning about the importance of preserving native ecosystems and local biodiversity.
During their time with this organization, they saw a need to help promote native planting and gardening beyond an audience of homeowners with private lawns and stewards of public parks, so they launched a three-pronged campaign to bring what they learned to a couple of additional communities: their campus community at GSU and renters and other folks with limited space to garden or strict regulations about how they can use the green spaces they have.
Working closely with Dr. Amy Lederberg, Leslie Inman, and Vicki Mann of the Intown Atlanta Chapter, Sheryl and Kelly planned an informational event on campus, where they gathered support to start a campus charter of GNPS (coming in Fall 2024):
They also created three infographic fliers to help people access information about the organization, native plants and the ecosystems they supports, and opportunities to make a positive ecological impact:
These two groups of students organized and promoted creek cleanups and worked to increase creek access in their areas as part of Atlanta Creek League. Below are some photos of them planning their events as well as an example of some of the promotional materials they created.
And if you’re in the Georgia State area, you can support the ongoing work of Atlanta Creek League by signing up to Play for Clear Creek (Jaz’s Team)!
Leslie, Nuha, and Jillian created this informative presentation on common threats to urban songbirds for their community partner, Wild Nest Bird Rehab. Their work will help Wild Nest in their ongoing mission to educate the public about the birds with whom they share their city and how members of the community can become allies to urban birds.
For their community partner, Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Ava and Milo researched and created educational signage for a native plant and pollinator garden. Their 8-foot sign included facts about plants, insects, and birds that may be found in the garden as well as original art rendering the flora and fauna of the preserve. This spring, they mounted it in the garden at a height that would make it accessible to all visitors, including children.
In addition to volunteering at the Freedom Farmers Market and Doghead Farm, Elena and Viraj teamed up to design TWO projects for their community partner, Concrete Jungle: one public-facing social media campaign, and one internally-focused data model of the organization’s volunteer pathways.
You can check out Elena’s campaign, Fruit Fact Fridays, as it appears week to week on Concrete Jungle’s Instagram (no spoilers!).
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