Photos & Story by Marianne Salza
Eastie Farm celebrated the completion of its year-long Climate Corps Program on December 3 in its greenhouse. Supported by a $1 million National Science Foundation Civic Innovation Challenge grant, Climate Corps is a paid fellowship program for youth, ages 15-22, who are interested in environmental sustainability.
“I think the most successful part of this is how seeds have been sewn in people’s hearts and minds,” said Kannan Thiruvengadam, Executive Director, Eastie Farm. “I am curious to see where they will go. If they take these ideas and build solutions of their own, then that’s good. The kind of problems that we have are global.”
Forty participants from surrounding communities immersed themselves in applied research focused on climate resilience solutions in coastal areas, such as East Boston, Chelsea, and Revere, which Thiruvengadam described as culturally, economically, demographically, and ecologically similar.
The young environmental advocates developed skills in topics such as urban farming and environmental policy. One endeavor, in collaboration with Emerald Tutu, involved constructing coastal protection infrastructure that utilized phragmites, an invasive coastal reed, to help reduce flooding and erosion on the urban coastline along 102 Border Street.
“A lot of experiences that the youth had will stay with them beyond this past year,” acknowledged Northeastern University PhD student, Kalaina Thorne, who has been researching coastal restoration and ecology at the Marine Science Center & School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, in Nahant. “Our piece in this project has been engaging young adults on topics like living shorelines, the anatomy of a salt marsh, how to tell the different species apart, and what might influence their growth. It ultimately culminated in them helping us plant salt marsh seedlings in the field over the summer.”
Eleven cohorts at the gathering received citations of congratulations from the Massachusetts House of Representatives in recognition of their hard work and commitment to the Climate Corps Program.
“They’ve become an integral part of the group,” added Thiruvengadam, who observed the bonds formed by participants. “They share a future.”