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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 22, 2009

Community Stewardship Fair Highlights Invasive Species Products

URBANA - University of Illinois students will be teaming up with local elementary and middle school students on April 23 at the Nab the Aquatic Invaders! Community Stewardship Fair.

The fair is a part of a new service-learning course—NRES 285: Community Stewardship through Environmental Education—in which students use a science-based web site and other interactive resources to bring the issue of aquatic invasive species to local schools.

Under the guidance of their student leaders, the local school children formed community partnerships with local organizations and businesses, such as Urbana Free Library and Orpheum Children’s Science Museum, to create community stewardship projects, which will be used by the partners in the future.

One partner—Environmental Almanac—worked with students to create a musical broadcast to be aired on their radio spot. Other projects range from posters and classroom materials to informative skits.

The fair—hosted by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) and the U of I Center for Teaching Excellence—gives the students and children the opportunity to showcase their projects to the public. It will be held at the Champaign Public Library from 6:30-8:00 p.m.

“This event provides an empowering opportunity for the students to showcase their exemplary work and to interact with family, friends, and the public in an educational forum that is both engaging and meaningful,” says IISG education specialist Terri Hallesy.

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The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program is one of more than 30 National Sea Grant College Programs. Created by Congress in 1966, Sea Grant combines university, government, business and industry expertise to address coastal and Great Lakes needs. Funding is provided by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U. S. Department of Commerce, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University at West Lafayette, Indiana.