How Local Nonprofits are Nurturing the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders

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For the Bay: An article series examining dynamic socio-environmental relationships in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

“It’s hard to understand something you’ve never seen, and you can’t love something you don’t know.” This is why Mairin Corasaniti, education and outreach coordinator for ShoreRivers, says it’s so important for young people to learn about the environment—particularly in a hands-on way.

“I think it’s one thing to hear about something like severe erosion, or the excitement of catching a fish, or algal blooms, or dipping your oar in the water for the first time—but words can’t always capture reality the way experience can,” she explains. “Getting hands-on experience makes our environment, how much we depend upon it, and all of the stresses our ecosystems are facing so much more real and far more urgent.”

ShoreRivers is a nonprofit based on Maryland’s Eastern Shore that seeks to restore local waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and—of course—education. It’s one of several organizations throughout the area that recognizes the importance of getting young people involved in the effort for a greener, cleaner tomorrow.

By including children and teenagers in their mission, these nonprofits are not only setting up the next generation of environmental advocates but also giving these young people valuable skills they’ll be able to use throughout their lives.

Talk to any of the education specialists within these organizations, and most of them will note that the first step is getting young people to appreciate nature, to create what Noelle Chao, director of education and equity initiatives for the Watershed Stewards Academy, calls “positive, meaningful, hands-on experiences in the outdoors.” Similarly, Erin Howard Valentine, communications coordinator for Scenic Rivers Land Trust, talks about helping people make “a meaningful connection with the natural world when you are young.”

The big challenge here? Some of these kids just don’t have many other opportunities to be outside. Although Jessica Hammond, a student with ShoreRivers, says, “I have always preferred to be outside with dirty hands than inside,” her experience isn’t universal.

Chris Cerino, vice president of the Sultana Education Foundation, says some of the 10,000 students his organization works with annually aren’t connected to the local tributaries. “Many of our local youth here on the Eastern Shore do not have access to the water, despite the fact that they often live right down the street from a navigable stream or river,” he says.

Therefore, Sultana Education Foundation offers hands-on experiences aboard its namesake schooner as well as a fleet of canoes and kayaks. “Connecting kids directly to these tributaries is the first step in encouraging them to care about local environmental issues that impact the Chesapeake,” he says.

Through the programming these nonprofits offer, youth have in-person interaction with native plants and animals. They’ll see how native plants can slowdown stormwater runoff that brings pollution into the waterways they’ve just explored by boat, or they might get to hold a fish or a crab that calls that tributary home.

That means more time in nature and less time at home in front of a screen. “Competing with screen time is tough,” Chao says. “And it’s always important to recognize that not everyone thinks being outdoors is fun. In fact, for those who have spent a limited amount of time in green spaces with dense tree canopy, being in a forested environment might feel overwhelming; for folks with allergies or sensory sensitivities, the outdoors can feel very unsafe.” To overcome this challenge, Chao says Watershed Stewards Academy focuses on making sure its environmental educators check their own biases and remember that their programming needs to appeal to young people who might not think nature is amazing from the very beginning, instead building that enthusiasm about (and emotional connection to) nature in a strategic way.

Some youths are even outright scared of nature at first. Karen McDonald, education specialist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, refers to this as biophobia. “Oftentimes when we do get students and teachers to our site, we have to spend a lot of time just allowing them to get comfortable outside, feeling sand, waves, and water, hearing insects, and feeling secure in nature,” she says. “Often the need to build security and comfort outside can overtake curriculum content or academic learning.”

Despite these challenges, many of the youth are responsive to the lessons. In the case of Hammond with ShoreRivers, who prefers the outdoors to the indoors, she’s eager to share her experience with others. “The more people who learn about the environment, the more likely they are to make changes and impact the people around them to also make changes,” she says.

Hammond refers not only to her peers but also to adults—including elected officials. “Youths should join the fight because the more of us there are, the more powerful we can become as we force adults and the government to hear and actually listen to us, which could lead to changes,” she says.

This points to another important aspect of these nonprofit missions: developing leadership and other life skills. Corasaniti says that problem solving is a major skill she sees youth with ShoreRivers pick up. “Science education encourages all of us to think critically and to act on our desires to make things better in the world around us, and that helps us grow from students to stewards,” she explains.

Chao agrees with this notion, saying children want to do the right thing, and environmental education empowers them in that way. “They understand—perhaps better than many adults do—that people need to be part of the solution, and they are eager to get involved and adopt best practices for a healthier environment,” she says.

But learning about environmental stewardship isn’t just for youth. These organizations depend on adults to take on volunteer positions and mentorship roles so that these opportunities for kids continue to exist. “Mentoring is also super important, because we need adults to help students see themselves in STEM careers such as science, mathematics, engineering, and research,” McDonald says. “This is especially true for students in underserved communities, girls, and women.”

And while adult involvement is important primarily because these organizations are dependent on it, adults shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that they’ll feel gratified that they’re paying it forward. The adults involved now are the ones who learned when they were young.

“Everyone on our team had pivotal experiences with nature as a child,” Valentine says. “Those experiences are wide ranging—fishing and crabbing our local waterways, going camping with friends and family, attending outdoor school, visiting state and national parks—and they are part of the reason that we do the work that we do.”

To learn more about these and other environmental nonprofits in the area, visit them online and reach out about educational opportunities for young people: