Earth Day at Fort Hamilton April 2022

Joining Forces! 
Not every fight is on the battlefield. The Fort Hamilton Army Garrison along with NYSMEA and Fort Hamilton HS teamed up to present a united front in celebration of Earth Day 2022 on Friday April 22. The  Chief of the Environmental Division, Nicholas S. Protopsaltis, and the Environmental Protection Specialist, Pallavi Prayaga, organized this first Earth Day at Fort Hamilton. Fort Hamilton HS, represented by retired art teacher Ellen Kokines, and science teacher Blanca Ching,  participated with a display of interactive environmental activities for the students.

Earth Day activities continued on Saturday when Fort Hamilton Army Garrison Commander, Col. Craig Martin and his staff, opened the gates to this historic site to allow students to rid the beach of tons of marine debris. Under the guidance and supervision of Fred Fritsch, administrator of the Bay Ridge Aquatic Institute (BRAINS), the beach litter was deposited in a dumpster provided by Sam Young and his staff from the Dept of Environmental Protection (DEP).  Student participants earned community service certificates as evidence of their civic engagement.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Citizen Science                                                                                                                                                    
The theme for Earth Day 2022 is Invest in our Planet. Having students engage in real world hands - on environmental science activities will give them a better appreciation and understanding of our living planet. Better informed citizens are needed to foster the community resilience required to counter the looming menace of global warming and climate change.

                                                                                                                                     Unfortunately, for our young citizen scientists, the City of New York does not provide science laboratories in the  K-5 schools for students to do the activities needed to learn about the science of climate change.

Advocating for an EcoLab                                                                                                                                
Prompted by this regrettable lack of science laboratories in the District 20 Schools, Friends of Denyse Wharf and  the New York State Marine Education Association (NYSMEA) wrote a proposal which recommended that a regional marine environmental science lab or EcoLab be built by the NYCity Dept. of Education on Parks Dept property in front of Denyse Wharf. This regional science laboratory would serve, throughout the school year, all the K -5 schools without science laboratories in District 20. The advocates argue that the EcoLab would be easily accessible, cost effective and constructed of sturdy steel shipping containers that can tolerate the most severe weather conditions. Thus far, City Hall has not responded to our request for a meeting.    
For more information contact Tom Greene at the address below.