Across the Watershed - Winter 2001 - Watershed Ambassador Hosted

Recent Kean University graduate Louisa Lubiak is spending nine months working at GSWA as part of a state-sponsored "Watershed Ambassadors" program aimed at educating the public about the importance of local water quality.

GSWA is one of 17 environmental organizations in the state to participate in the program, which is funded by the federal AmeriCorps program. Her duties, she reports, include "educating the public on watershed management issues, training volunteers on how to monitor the health of their local streams, and encouraging people to attend public planning and zoning meetings."

As one of 17 statewide participants in this program, Lubiak will put in 1700 hours of service during her stay with GSWA. The location of GSWA in Madison puts her in a position to educate residents about watershed management issues facing Watershed Management Area 6 (WMA-6) such as "why people should be involved in maintaining the health of their local streams, how citizens can become active in local watershed management issues, and what are some simple steps that individuals can take to improve water quality."

Lubiak graduated from Kean University last year with an earth science major and a minor in writing. Her original idea, she said, was "to be a free-lance science writer, but now I am thinking of pursuing a master's degree in environmental journalism." While in college, Louisa helped launch a state-wide organization called SUSTAIN, which is affiliated with the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability,a coalition of about fifteen colleges and universities.

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