Community partnership inspires high-school students through hands-on watershed stewardship
On Wednesday, May 27, Niagara College and GM St. Catharines Propulsion Plant celebrated a decades-long partnership inspiring the next generation to learn about watershed health and ecosystem restoration in the region.
This year, students from the DSBN Academy and employees from GM took part in the annual EcoSTEM workshop at NC’s Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The hands-on workshops center around the 15-acre wetland system on campus, a former sewage lagoon transformed into the thriving naturalized habitat and living laboratory used by students in the College’s environmental programs.
“Since 2016, NC’s Sustainability Office has collaborated with the GM St. Catharines Propulsion Plant and a local school to immerse students in real-world watershed science to understand the vital role of watershed health and inspire the next generation of environmental stewards,” said Katie Bristow, NC’s Sustainability Program & Outreach Coordinator.
Bristow says that DSBN students in Grade 11 and a small group of GM employees had the chance to wade in the campus wetlands, use water monitoring equipment, identify benthic macroinvertebrates, and tour the whole wetland system with current NC students in the Ecosystem Restoration program, and the Environmental Technician program.
“GM Canada is very appreciative of the longstanding partnership with Niagara College, which directly supports GM’s sustainability goals,” said Gavin Coman, Senior Environmental Leader, GM. “This collaboration introduces students to environmental and scientific fields they may not have explored otherwise. Niagara College’s leadership provides a strong foundation for learning and inspires future innovators in our community. We look forward to working together for many years to come.”
