TH
Taylor Held
  • Environmental Science
  • Class of 2019
  • North Bellmore, NY

Taylor Held volunteers in New Orleans wetlands

2018 Mar 6

Taylor Held of North Bellmore, NY, traveled to New Orleans from Feb. 24 to March 4 with 17 other SUNY Oneonta students to do wetlands restoration service-learning projects in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Working with a nonprofit organization called Common Ground Relief, the students planted hardy, fast-growing native plants and removed invasive species in coastal areas imperiled by hurricanes, development and engineering projects that have eroded land and endangered wildlife. They planted thousands of Cypress trees, visited the levy that broke during Hurricane Katrina, and even rescued an abandoned dog that was starving in the wetlands.

Held is studying Environmental Science at SUNY Oneonta.

The New Orleans trip is a component of Geography 384: Disaster Geographies, a course taught by Associate Professor Wendy Lascell, who accompanied the students. Lascell has taken several groups of students to New Orleans for similar trips.

"On these service-learning trips, students gain invaluable experience for both academic and personal growth," Lascell said. "They are engaged in service, immersed in an unfamiliar culture, and confronted with real-world problems that don't have easy solutions. They get to be a part of the solutions while they learn about the complexities and challenges faced by communities. This course is designed to expose students to both environmental and cultural geographies bringing the classroom to life. They cannot learn in a classroom what they gain from real-world immersion. One of my favorite moments is when a student realizes that the easy solutions they construct in the classroom will never work in reality. This process is crucial in preparing our students for the job market."

In conjunction with the service activities, students immersed themselves in New Orleans culture. They visited an old plantation, went to the Lower 9th Ward Museum and went on a swamp tour, where they got to hold an alligator.

The students returned to New York on March 4 with stories to tell and photographs to show.