Mountain Studies Institute (MSI) is hosting the inaugural San Juan Resilience Youth Summit at the La Plata County Fairgrounds in Durango, CO on April 18, 2019 from 9 am – 1:00 pm. Students from Silverton School, Durango High School, Big Picture High School, and Escalante Middle School will present their research on topics related to the theme Resilience in the Face of Wildfire. This event is open to the public.
The San Juan Resilience Youth Summit (SJRYS) is a forum for middle school and high school students to investigate the linkages between wildfire, forest conditions, watershed health, and air quality. By creating the SJRYS, MSI hopes to build continuity between citizen science and student research efforts occurring throughout the San Juan Mountains, across watersheds and forest types. In addition to allowing students a unique opportunity to present and discuss their findings with an authentic audience, they will engage in ongoing dialogue about the connectivity of our resources and watersheds to promote awareness of impacts to downstream users and personal responsibility for the health and well-being of our San Juan Mountain rivers, forests and communities. The overarching goal is to provide students an opportunity to develop critical thinking skills about the interconnectedness of our ecosystems, accomplished by sharing information among schools from the top of the watershed in Silverton, to Durango, and further downstream to communities in northern New Mexico.
The Summit builds on existing MSI efforts to work closely with local teachers and students to better understand issues that impact our local forests and watersheds. Most students participating in the SJRYS, have participated in hands-on field trips during the school year. Investigations will be broken into three topics: - Forest health - Watershed health - Air quality
The intended audience for this Summit includes land managers and decision makers at the local, county, state, and federal levels. MSI welcomes the community to participate on April 18th, as this event will include several interactive activities to spark conversation about Resilience in the Face of Wildfire.
This event is made possible by the very generous support of Purgatory Resort, the City of Durango, Ballantine Family Fund, El Pomar Foundation, the National Environmental Education Foundation, and the Community Foundation.
For more info about the summit, including an agenda, please visit www.mountainstudies.org/sjrys
