Asia Harris has grown up around Pittsburgh's rivers. But at 16, this junior at Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport knew little about them until she landed a spot at the Bayer International Summer Sustainability Camp.
The two-week summer program, which ended July 29, included Harris and one other Pittsburgh-area student, Harold Rosemond (a junior at Central Catholic) along with ten other teens from Germany, California and elsewhere. The students toured Steel City Biofuels for an up-close look at green technology, worked alongside Bayer scientists and studied sustainability at Duquesne University. But the real thrills came when they explored the marine biology and freshwater ecology of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers.
Harris loved collecting soil and water samples, and the experience changed her view of the environment. Most people are so focused on their daily lives, she says, that they realize all that is living and growing around them. Discovering how much life exists in one tiny soil sample "definitely widened and broadened my outlook." She was also excited to discover how clean and healthy Pittsburgh's rivers are today.
She's looking forward to returning to school in the fall and speaking with other kids about the environment. "People in Pittsburgh believe our water and everything around us is dirty because of what happened before, because of the steel mills," she says. "This can show people that Pittsburgh is becoming cleaner and greener." Rosemond agrees, and he's looking forward to sharing what he's learned with other students at school in September.
The students also worked closely with peers from other communities, which helped them to see the environment as a global issue.
The urban river experience was conducted by RiverQuest and is funded by the Bayer USA Foundation and the Bayer Science and Education Foundation, two of Bayer's three global foundations. Bayer is already at work planning an expanded camp program for next summer.
Writer: Melissa Rayworth
Source: Rebecca Lucore and Katie Kirkpatrick at the Bayer USA Foundation