“One minute I’m in Colombia. The next minute I’m talking to you all in Washington D.C.,” said an emotional Jose Manuel, the 18 year-old Climate Corps youth at Eastie Farm; he’s one of 40 young people who got paid to learn about climate change, how to act on it, how to help community members make use of government programs that help them save money and reduce carbon pollution, and how to improve coastal resilience.
A fellow member Damien, 20 years old, who also addressed the audience, said Eastie Farm has energized him to get out of the house and work to save the planet.
Both youth spoke in front of a large audience that included the representatives from NSF, USDA, Department of Homeland Security, and several other dignitaries.
Jose Manuel was blown away once more when he saw himself on the large screen in the first frame of the Eastie Farm video, in the Alamo Cinema theater in D.C.
This year, Climate Corps was funded by the National Science Foundation’s CIVIC innovation challenge. This event in D.C. was the gathering of all grantees. Eastie Farm is one of the two community organizations selected to lead the $1M program. Thanks to this funding, Eastie Farm was able to hire social science researchers at Northeastern University to guide the youth on scientific and ethical approaches in conducting research, while Bioscience researchers from Hughes lab of Northeastern University helped the youth perform tests on what kind of vegetation helps improve coastal resilience. Emerald Tutu, another partner in this project, trained the youth to build plant-based structures and place them in tidal wetlands to prevent erosion. MIT, another partner in this project, has been working with the youth to design a climate hub and to create a portal for green job opportunities that the youth can pursue as they gain interest in environmental careers.
Kalaina Thorne, a graduate student from Northeastern University’s Hughes lab accompanied the team to D.C. and spoke to attendees during the demo day.
We are grateful to NSF for this amazing opportunity, and thankful to our staff and our partners pulling together to make this happen. We believe we are sowing good seeds in the hearts and minds of the leaders of tomorrow.
