Arin Haverland, Arid Lands Resource Sciences, co-sponsored by the
University of Arizona Master Watershed Steward Program

In 2005 I began serving as a graduate science teaching fellow through the University of Arizona. The experience brought me into the high school classroom and allowed me to venture outside of my graduate research studies and the university setting to share my experience, passion for the environment and my research with teachers and students throughout Tucson. I was instantly hooked! And the students and teachers were hungry for more – they wanted to learn more, and most importantly they wanted to actually DO more! Seeing the need to involve high school students and high school teachers in current community and UA research projects, I began my search for a way to not only help administrators meet the math and science standards for their classrooms, but also a way to engage the students and inspire the teachers to get involved in a new way! Over the next year and a half I worked with teachers and staff members, attended as many faculty meetings as possible and listened to their needs. I asked the students questions about what they thought about science, what they feared about math and why they felt bored at times in class. In 2007, all of the hard work paid off and I was able to create the Building Bridges Through Water Program as a recipient of the UA NASA Space Grant Graduate Fellowship Program. The Building Bridges Through Water Program has grown since then and is now officially known as the University of Arizona Junior Watershed Steward Program.

The Junior Watershed Steward Program is a cooperative high school extension education program focusing on the education and training of students and teachers across the state to serve as volunteers in the protection, restoration, monitoring, and conservation of their water and watersheds. The J.W.S. program emulates the University of Arizona Master Watershed Steward Program http://ag.arizona.edu/watershedsteward/ – a program which is geared towards adults and continuing education and operates through grants from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension office.

In addition to educational activities focused on the unique aspects of the Sonoran Desert, the Junior Watershed Steward program uses NASA based activities and educational materials to cultivate the ideas of the importance of water, on earth and in space. The JWS program also promotes environmental leadership and stewardship at the high-school level while simultaneously building a strong and sustainable foundation in water and water related issues for the teachers and students who participate in the program. Junior Watershed Stewards Learn about: Climate & Weather, Geology & Soils, Hydrology, Mapping & RS/GIS Technology, Fire in Watersheds, Ecology in Watersheds and Water Management. Junior Watershed Stewards expand their knowledge through hands-on lab exercises, specialist lectures, field trips and volunteer service projects.

In addition to the individuals who have grown up right here in Arizona, many of our students and teachers are also from countries other than the U.S. which brings this unique multicultural and multifaceted program to life both in and out of the classroom. The Junior Watershed Steward program is riding the water wave of the future in hopes that by fostering environmental stewardship, J.W.S. is not just preserving local watersheds, it is also empowering students and teachers to "make a splash" by taking action in their own communities and beyond! Through my opportunities as a UA NASA Space Grant Graduate Fellow, I have been able to reach beyond the classroom and have found that the greatest rewards are seeing the students renewed interest in science and hearing a teacher say " I had so much fun, I even forgot I was teaching"!