Laura Cattell Noll, a 2009 草莓社区 (EMU) alum, is engaging students in restoration projects to build community awareness for the Chesapeake Bay.
Cattell Noll, a conservation technician, works within the at the . Her work focuses on the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay watershed 鈥� specifically, implementing community-based wetland restoration projects.
鈥淭he projects are 鈥榗ommunity-based鈥� because we engage volunteers from the local area in the actual planting of the sites,鈥� said Cattell Noll. 鈥淭he idea is community members who help restore a wetland become invested in that site and want to protect it.鈥�
Life after EMU
After graduating with a degree in environmental science, Cattell Noll began working with , assisting with several National Aquarium projects. When her two-year commitment was finished, Cattell Noll started an internship at the aquarium, which eventually led to a full-time position.
鈥淲hen I talk to kids and other community members about environmental issues,聽I try to聽offer concrete steps that people can take in their everyday lives.鈥�
Cattell Noll says she tries to not focus too much on 鈥渄oom and gloom鈥� concepts because people will not be motivated to make changes. Instead, she takes lessons learned from her time at EMU and weaves them into her presentations.
鈥淎t EMU I learned a lot about the day-to-day changes that I as an individual can make to improve our environment,鈥� said Cattell Noll, . 鈥淚 regularly encourage students to learn about and try recycling, composting, gardening聽and biking 鈥� ideas that I became intimately familiar with as a student.鈥�
An outdoor classroom
Cattell Noll works specifically with students from the Terrapins in the Classroom and the Wetland Nursery Programs. In both programs, students are involved from start-to-finish in the project, raising fish and/or grasses in their schoolyard or feeding and measuring terrapins.
鈥淭he terrapin project is part of a larger research initiative to see if this ‘head start’ year helps increase survival rates of the diamondback terrapin,鈥� said Cattell Noll.
Cattell Noll said her team monitors the sites for months and sometimes years after the initial project is finished.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really rewarding when a student or community volunteer has an ‘aha’ moment about the environment,鈥� said Cattell Noll. 鈥淲e hope the act of giving back to their local ecosystem inspires a personal shift towards stewardship of the environment.鈥�
Not a typical job
When Cattell Noll is not visiting classrooms or leading initiatives, she鈥檚 involved in seasonal projects 鈥� planning for terrapin release and large-scale community restoration and plantings in upstate New York, Maryland鈥檚 eastern shore and Virginia Beach, among others.
鈥淭here is no such thing as a 鈥榬outine鈥� day for me!鈥�
While the manual labor and extensive work out of state can wear on anyone, Cattell Noll finds her most satisfying moments are when 鈥渢he students become the teachers.鈥�
鈥淲hen we explained to聽one聽group of students聽that rainwater washes trash into the storm drains and then into the Bay, they聽were astounded,鈥� said Cattell Noll. 鈥淎 few months later, when we were planting grasses one student wondered aloud how all the trash got there. Before I could answer, all the kids were yelling, 鈥楧on’t you remember? It comes from the storm drains!鈥�
鈥淚t’s rewarding to know that the message is getting through.鈥�