Bethesda Green’s Environmental Leaders Program is an experiential school-year long sustainability program targeting high school students in their senior year currently offered for Montgomery County high schools. In the Fall, our Environmental Leaders researched plastics pollution in Montgomery County streams through the Clean Headwaters Program in collaboration with One Montgomery Green. In the Spring, they designed and completed their own Spring Conservation Projects. Learn more about each Environmental Leader below!
Amalia Villegas Vega, St. John’s CHS, will attend the University of St. Andrew’s, Scotland
“I am passionate about protecting the environment and am looking forward to the opportunity to do that as part of the Environmental Leaders Program! I am especially looking forward to making local change with Bethesda Green. I, like many others, am very concerned about the current climate crisis and am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about sustainability through this program. My passions other than the environment include music, theater, and journalism.”
Spring Project: Creating an endangered species of the Chesapeake Bay coloring book that will include information on the Bay’s habitat and why species are endangered. Download the Coloring Book Here.
Blog Posts: Destruction of the Chesapeake Bay’s Diverse Habitats | The Issue of Fracking in Maryland
Anthony Lombardo, Walt Whitman High School, will attend the University of Maryland – Baltimore County Bioengineering/Mechanical Engineering dual degree program.
“I have always had a strong passion for the environment, which is why I joined the Environmental Leaders Program. It is more important than ever that our generation strives to create an environmentally friendly future. I plan to use this platform in order to help spread awareness of the destructive habits our society has in place. It is time for change!”
Spring Project: Educating the community about the invasive Northern Snakehead species through the creation of a series of educational pieces such as a video, coloring pages in English and Spanish and a educational webpage. Check out the webpage for more info!
Blog Posts: Air Pollution and Covid 19’s Silver Lining | The Importance of Ecotourism
Emily Wu, Walt Whitman High School, will attend the University of Virginia.
“I’m interested in many environmental issues, mainly how global warming and pollution impacts the organisms in our ecosystems and environments, as well as how the global changes are affecting life for humans. I’m excited to learn about the environmental issues that are present in our community right now and what is being done to solve it. I’m so happy that I can be a part of the effort to make our community more environmentally friendly”
Spring Project: Building a pollinator garden in her neighborhood to provide habitat and food to pollinating species, such as honeybees and butterflies. Learn more about her garden here.
Blog Posts: Plastics, Not All Created Equally | Biodegradation, Compost, and the Future of Bioplastic
Meera Shroff, Walt Whitman High School, will attend Vassar College.
“I got interested in the program because I wanted to help combat the broad, daunting issue of climate change and its environmental repercussions. Seeing the negative ramifications of what people have done to our environment in the headlines gets depressing, especially when I’m not sure how to make significant change. I really liked that Bethesda Green works locally, because it’s a way to make the challenge a little more specific and manageable. This is the only Earth we have and I want to work on protecting it and building a better future.”
Spring Project: A 6-episode podcast about single-use plastics covering their production, how they act in the environment, how recycling plays a part, and alternatives. Check out the Podcast here.
Blog Posts: California Wildfires and National Air Quality |The Recycling Myth: Paper Coffee Cups | Venture Out: Documentary Review
Paula Gonzalez Alvarez, Walt Whitman High School Senior, will attend L’École Polytechnique de Paris, Paris, France
“I am really excited to be a part of Bethesda Green’s Environmental Leaders Program. I think that this is a great opportunity to work alongside passionate people to try and better our environment. I believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to protect and conserve the environment, and I am trying to do my part. When I grow up, I would like to become an engineer, so I believe that learning about how to be more environmentally friendly will also help me create more sustainable projects in the future.”
Spring Project: Educating students and others about anaerobic digestion through the creation of an educational webpage and video. Check out the webpage here.
Blog Posts: Appearances can be Deceiving: The Truth About Compostable Utensils | The Best Alternatives to Plastic Period Products
Sander Schulman, Walt Whitman High School, will attend the University of Maryland College Park, Clark School of Engineering.
“I’ve always had an interest in studying the ways that technology can be used to protect the environment. Our climate is warming an alarming rate and I think that creative new city designs and engineering for sustainability will be key in reversing this change. I joined the Environmental Leaders Program mainly to research and learn about the negative effects of pollution in my local area. I will likely major in engineering and business, so I hope to apply what I pick up in this program to those fields in order to make as much of a change as I can in the future.”
Spring Project: Researching the impact of the invasive Northern Snakehead on native species and ecosystems in Maryland and presenting the findings in a website. Check out the webpage for more info!
Blog Post: Microplastics: From Our Products to Our Plates
