LOCSS Celebrates Earth Day With Triangle Land Conservancy
LOCSS Team member Megan Lane Explains our project at the Triangle Land Conservancy's Earth Day Celebration
On Saturday, April 23rd, the Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) welcomed 14 staff, 26 partners, 15 volunteers, and 148 local participants to celebrate the planet in a Earth Day festival on the Brumley Nature Preserve. Dubbed Operation Earth Day, 14 tables highlighting different activities related to biological or ecological engineering were present. Children and adults of all ages were invited to browse around in a grand celebration of North Carolina’s natural beauty and biodiversity and to learn about the missions of the Triangle Land Conservatory and its partners.
I had the privilege to speak to TLC associate Kayla Ebert regarding Operation Earth Day and the inspirations that drove her and her team to make the event the success it was. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kayla explained that it had been years since TLC’s last public Earth Day celebration. The Triangle Land Conservatory protects some of the piedmont’s most beautiful and luscious forests, and the Brumley Preserve is certainly no exception. Hosting lakes, rivers, woodlands, trails, and abundance of recreational opportunities, Brumley rightfully serves as a playground for visitors of all ilks. Nonetheless, many of those who enjoy the land aren’t aware of TLC and the number of organizations in the triangle that are dedicated to keeping it clean, safe, and a reliable source of drinking water. That said, Kayla and her team were thrilled to finally have the opportunity again to show off the plots they work hard to protect and to highlight involvement of a number of partnerships from around the state.
In representation of LOCSS’s affiliation with TLC, team member Megan Lane attended Operation Earth Day and held a table to raise awareness for our work with lakes. LOCSS collects data on two lakes in the Brumley Preserve, and Megan was able to reference and display our gauges to show the public how data is collected as well as the importance of citizen science. Furthermore, she was able to speak with many bypassers about other means of research we employ, such as the SWOT satellite, and the importance and implications of our mission. Both Megan and Kayla were pleased with the community engagement and were glad to be able to spark inspiration in children and adults, alike. In the future, Kayla hopes to continue the tradition of an annual Earth Day celebration and to continue to get our community outside, engaged, and passionate about natural science.
LOCSS News
We share stories about the lakes in our study, our partners and volunteer citizen scientists, as well as interesting results from our research.
