I am currently enrolled in a science and public policy course entitled Environmental Literature, Ethics, and Action (ELEA) at Barnard College of Columbia University. One of the major assignments for the course is our semester-long Green-Action Project, which is a research venture based on an environmental issue that we are passionate about. For me, picking a topic was easy. This past summer, I volunteered with a river clean-up group in my home state of New Jersey, canoeing along various rivers collecting trash. Glamorous, right? Although I felt immense satisfaction knowing that I was doing my part in helping to restore the rivers, the experience got me thinking. Why should I, or any of the other volunteers, have to pick up trash from the waters in the first place? By the summer's end, I realized that ignorance was to blame. What's needed is increased awareness of the severe negative impacts of polluting our waterways.

Summer vacation was over before I knew it, and I was back in New York City. After learning of the guidelines for our Green-Action Project, I was eager to continue focusing my volunteer efforts on river preservation during my senior year at Columbia. I researched relevant environmental groups and came across Riverkeeper, whose mission is "to protect the ecological integrity of the Hudson River and its tributaries, and to safeguard the drinking water supply of New York City and the lower Hudson Valley" (http://www.riverkeeper.org/about-us/our-story/). This organization seemed like the perfect fit. Though contributing to river cleanups over the summer was gratifying, I was ready to assume more of a leadership role. I contacted Riverkeeper about becoming involved in their newly launched Ambassador Program and have been accepted as a Riverkeeper Ambassador for Fall 2009 to Spring 2010. My primary tasks include raising awareness of the issues facing our waters and Riverkeeper's continuing efforts to address such issues, representing the organization at local events, as well as strengthening Riverkeeper's membership through community outreach.

With the Hudson River and its watershed serving as a valuable resource for humans and marine life alike, its safeguarding cannot be overstated. The water supply of approximately nine million residents from New York City, Westchester, Putnam, Orange, and Ulster counties comes from the watershed, and NYC prides itself on having some of the best quality, unfiltered drinking water. Secondly, the Hudson and its connected tributaries serve as the natural habitat and spawning grounds for numerous species of marine fauna. I also can't forget to mention that the river functions as the backyard of many New York state residents and should be a site of both recreation and serene beauty. If chemical runoff, industrial waste, and other pollutants continue to find their way into the Hudson, the physical well-being of the waters is at stake. Accordingly, by my internship's end, I hope to have inspired as many New Yorkers as possible to join Riverkeeper in their efforts to address these issues head on, as well as rouse others to become involved with Waterkeeper organizations in their local communities across the country.

Overall, my weekly blogging will not only serve as an outlet to provide updates on where my research is at and where it is heading, but I also hope for it to initiate an ongoing conversation about the importance of problems facing the preservation of the Hudson and its waterways.

For a visual aid and more in-depth explanation of Riverkeeper's story and mission, I encourage you to view this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GgMyatqNkc