News and Insights

It's a fact that modern childhood has moved indoors. Neighborhood kids no longer adventure outside to play until called home for dinner. On average, American children spend between four and seven minutes a day engaged in unstructured outdoor play (not including organized sports) and as many as nine hours a day in front of an electronic screen. This national trend has paralleled an alarming growth in childhood obesity and prescribed pharmaceuticals for children. Did you know that preschoolers are the fastest growing market for antidepressants? I can’t help but think of this when I see so many adults handing over small screens to youngsters in restaurants, stores and even public parks.

Many of our youth are tuned out, stressed out and over-scheduled. Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv calls this Nature-Deficit Disorder. And this is not just limited to kids, as it also strikes adults, families, and whole communities.

However, youth and adults who regularly spend time outdoors enjoy priceless benefits to mind, body and spirit. These include improved physical health as well as professional or academic success through greater capacity for leadership, self-awareness, self-confidence, communication, critical thinking and creativity. Further, every generation decides what to protect. If we raise a generation of youth who are disconnected from nature, how can we ensure both their good health and the health of the natural world that sustains us all?

At Merrohawke Nature School we are working to rebuild a culture of nature connection in our community. While spending time in nature is an important habit, rebuilding a lasting culture of nature connection in ourselves, our families and our neighborhoods requires a longer view and deeper commitment. We think seven generations ahead. We ask: What can we do today for the benefit of future generations?

My husband, Capt. Rob Yeomans, and I co-founded Merrohawke in 2007. Originally known as Boat Camp, Merrohawke is no longer a summer-only program aboard a charter boat. As a year-round nature school, Merrohawke is one of at least 75 nature connection organizations nationally -- and 150 internationally -- that emerged out of the 1970s environmental movement and self-identify as an 8 Shields school. Developed by Jon Young in 1983, the founding belief of 8 Shields was that if we can return children to the same intimate relationship to the natural world as was held by our indigenous ancestors, then these children will grow up to consciously appreciate, connect with, and protect the natural world and their community. This ethic is fostered through active mentoring, ancestor awareness, the arts of tracking and survival, and the surrounding culture of elders and adults who value this deep immersion to place. Nationwide, the nature connection movement now serves upwards of 50,000 youth annually. Merrohawke annually serves 2,500 youth living within a 50-mile radius of Newburyport and beyond.

All of our programs provide time to explore the natural world, because this is where the taproot of deep connection to the earth -- land or sea -- takes hold. We intentionally create time for youth to follow their curiosity. They catch mackerel, flounder or striped bass. Watch whales and seabirds. Haul a beach seine net for sandeels. Get muddy. Run wild. Build forts or fancy sandcastles. Race handmade driftwood boats by the shoreline. Dig for seaworms or dig for lost pirate treasure. Climb trees. Catch frogs and fireflies. Carve and coal burn wooden spoons. Weave cordage from milkweed fibers. Tend a fire through from sunset to sunrise. While youth believe they are "just playing outside," recent studies have proven that childhood experiences such as these, and not the more traditional forms of environmental education, directly lead to adults who are active stewards of the earth.

At Merrohawke, we are committed to guiding learning in nature that fosters empathy, resilience, grit, and a deep connection to the earth for the benefit of raising a strong generation of youth, healthy families, a thriving greater Newburyport community, and a flourishing planet.

Kate Yeomans is the co-founder and executive director of Merrohawke Nature School. Learn more at www.merrohawke.org.

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This column was coordinated by ACES Intern and NHS Senior, Eleni Protopapas, who can be reached at eleniprotopapas@gmail.com to share any comments or questions. To learn more about ACES and our Youth Leadership Initiative, please view our WEBSITE –  https://www.aces-alliance.org

The Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards Inc. (ACES) is a 501(c)(3) with roots in the Newburyport Cleantech Center that existed to support entrepreneurs developing their businesses in the innovative clean technology sector of the economy.

It is now a not-for-profit corporation devoted to building an alliance of collaborating stewardship-oriented organizations, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, governmental bodies, educational institutions and individuals (ALLIES). We are committed to our stated purpose: “To positively impact our environment’s health and our planet’s climate.” This is why we exist.

Collectively, as an alliance, we nurture and assist initiatives promoting stewardship of our climate and environment. We believe that collaboration is critical for success in today’s dynamic world to leverage the great work of many independent entities, all working for a better future.

Our focus is on fostering collaboration directed at building a resilient, sustainable, healthy and prosperous future for Greater Newburyport and then beyond. We honor the axiom: “Think globally, work locally, and act personally.”

The values we embrace include collaboration, communication, integrity, leadership, respect and sustainability.

Our vision for 2021 is that ACES becomes a vibrant network of ALLIES collaborating to address climate change, environmental and economic health. To that end, ACES provides networking opportunities, helps identify shared interests/initiatives, and offers organizational development, marketing, communications, best practices and securing finances support.

The leadership team is a multiaged group of inspired stewards – individuals committed to improving the legacy of the planet.

Our overarching goal for the next three years is to build this organization of inspired stewards with the capability to gather, organize and share resources needed to enhance the health of our environment. Guided by a leadership team supported by an engaged board, the organization employs best practices to:

Work “in-service” to a network of ever-growing allies in support of their purpose.

Serve as a facilitator, catalyst, convener, connector, promoter, communicator, amplifier, organizer, etc. — with stewards and others responsible for execution via specific project teams.

Define, monitor and promote relevant assets (programs, products and services) that contribute to the area’s overall foundation for climate and environmental stewardship initiatives.

Build community resiliency in the face of climate change (medium-term adaptation and mitigation).

Contribute to slowing the rate of global warming/climate change and lowering our carbon footprint (long-term mitigation effect).

We believe that long-term success will be measured by our contribution to enhancing our quality of life and the achievement of the above goals. Ultimately, we hope to serve as a model for establishing collaborative approaches to develop and implement initiatives beyond the Greater Newburyport base.

Current initiatives that ACES is supporting include: spring and fall cleanup campaigns that promoted events organized and conducted by over 10 Allies; the Healthy Merrimack River initiative, a project of a broad number of concerned stakeholder groups; nurturing environmental stewardship and mindfulness among youths in collaboration with the education business coalition and the Newburyport public school system; and fostering environmental stewardship.”

As a step toward bringing the above vision to reality, we are pleased to be working with The Daily News to provide readers with an opportunity to gain more insight into the purpose, work, and positive impacts of the many folks working in our community for change. It is their efforts that contribute to collective success and inspire us all to keep working for the health of our planet. You’ll be reading more about them in these pages.

Art Currier is a founder and the CEO of ACES. Anyone interested in learning more about the opportunity to support this organization or any of its current or potential initiatives/projects can reach him at artcurrier40@gmail.com.

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This column was coordinated by ACES Intern and NHS Senior, Eleni Protopapas, who can be reached at eleniprotopapas@gmail.com to share any comments or questions. To learn more about ACES and our Youth Leadership Initiative, please view our WEBSITE –  https://www.aces-alliance.org

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The Gulf of Maine Institute (GOMI) accepts the above statement from Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, and believes it is based on sound science. Here in Newburyport, a GOMI team has been operating for 16 years, quietly employing our unique community-based stewardship model to engage youths and their adult mentors in the preservation of the Gulf of Maine Watershed.

Guided by ongoing formative evaluation and years of experience with our constituents around the Gulf of Maine (extending from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia), we have produced some remarkable results. What follows is a brief history and a vision into the future of our community-based stewardship model journey.

Act locally but think bioregionally

GOMI began as a collection of youth teams and their mentors recruited throughout the watershed and funded by a Canadian Millennium Grant in 2000. Based on the mantra “Act locally but think bioregionally,” the original design of GOMI was simple: Work locally in teams on place-based environmental projects throughout the school year; then, bring teams together in the summer for a weeklong residential conference to share their work and to connect to the bioregion. The GOMI team leadership approach, with its academic component and summer workshop, continued successfully until 2015.

While the summer workshop was a peak experience, producing life-changing results for many participants, our resources could not support more than 60 youths a year. Before transitioning to a new phase likely to attract more significant funding, we built two intentional strategies into the design: Incorporating and emphasizing formative evaluation and formation of educational partnerships with local and national agencies, such as the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and the Plum Island Long-Term Environmental Research study, funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole. Throughout this time, we established strong partnerships with Nock Middle School and Newburyport High School.

By 2015, the realities of climate change demanded a change in our approach. The GOMI board resolved to shift the annual summer workshop emphasis from an all-volunteer, youth-centered model to one of professional development for educators. A three-year NOAA award provided impetus for our teacher development model, “Learning to Steward the Gulf,” which significantly expanded our capacity to reach more students. Our 24 teachers ranged from elementary school to community college levels.

Teacher input informed design and content, and by Year 2, teachers were co-leading sessions, which emphasized field studies and civic engagement. This shift placed the emphasis on teaching processes and skills, anchored by the school and community support needed to enhance positive effects on student learning.

Community-based stewardship cannot be successfully implemented without in-school administrative support nor can it be fully realized without the support of out-of-school partners, such as the wildlife refuge and the scientists at the Plum Island Long-Term Environmental Research program. It is this collaboration that enhances the richness of the experience.

Collaboration that enhances the richness of the experience

Students have found that by practicing face-to-face conversations with others, they can tell their stories and share their environmental concerns across generations and disciplines. These conversations started as climate cafes but have broadened to stewardship roles in the Great Marsh, controlling invasive species, discovering creature movement with trail cams, and investigating endangered species threatened by rising waters.

We encourage you to attend one such community café and share our world of experiential fieldwork by joining us to discuss the natural systems that govern our planet.

John Halloran is the science director for the Gulf of Maine Institute, overseeing the science curriculum and the development of all projects and training. More information is available at www.gulfofmaineinstitute.org/.

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Storm Surge formed in spring 2013 following the devastation that took place along Plum Island the previous winter. Its members represent a diverse cross-section of society, including businesspeople, writers, scientists, educators, retirees and concerned citizens who share a common bond as stewards of this planet.

We believe local communities need to start throttling back their impacts on our climate while concurrently preparing for the immediate effects of climate-enhanced storm activity and sea level rise. The group embraces the motto, “Think Globally, Work Locally and Act Personally.”

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Storm Surge has focused its core strategy on community education and awareness to help motivate social change. Thus, efforts have been not only aimed at the general public, but also at elected officials, specifically in Newburyport.

The group managed to secure some funding from the Institution for Savings and the New England Grassroots Environment Fund, but much of its success has come from the efforts and donations of its volunteers.

Understanding that elected officials read newspapers, Storm Surge has focused on publishing editorials, articles and notices of their educational speaker series in The Daily News of Newburyport and The Current. This has kept the issue at the forefront of the community’s consciousness.

Since 2013, cumulatively, over 3,600 people have attended nearly 60 Storm Surge programs, while some 650 people subscribe to the group's mailing list, and over 1,600 people engage and follow on Facebook.

Beyond community education, Storm Surge is active in efforts aimed at making communities more resilient to climate impacts and sea level rise.

Storm Surge members have served on community task forces for Newburyport, Newbury and Salisbury under the National Wildlife Federation’s Sandy Grant, Newburyport’s EPA-sponsored Flood Resilience for Riverine and Coastal Communities assessment, as well as the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness  programs.

To move the city’s adaptation planning and implementation process along, Mayor Donna Holaday has convened the Newburyport Resiliency Committee. The group includes city councilors, the Conservation Commission, city engineering representatives, resiliency and Planning Department staff, as well as individuals from NOAA, a former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers specialist in riverine environments, and also a member from Storm Surge.

The committee is tasked with not only considering the impacts of sea level rise and storms, but also the other consequences of climate change, such as drought, heat waves and insect disease vectors.

Storm Surge’s purpose is to support and encourage its communities in this adaptation and mitigation effort. The organization isn’t anti-development; rather it understands that communities need economies to thrive.

Members would like to see development take place with the most resilient technology and sustainable methods available such that they do not create problems for the municipality, the environment and public resources, including area beaches and the waterfront, which are at the core of local economic engines.

Storm Surge informs communities about certain exposures to risk and the need to start developing and executing strategies to address those vulnerabilities now. The nonprofit is making that information available through its programs and its involvement in local resiliency planning and sustainability efforts.

Storm Surge is also a member of ACES — the Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards, which serves to organize, support and coordinate efforts of local environmental organizations.

Mike Morris is the chairperson and one of the founding members of Storm Surge. For more information, go to https://storm-surge.org/ or join the group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/StormSurgeMerrimack.