Looking Back on a Year as a Watershed Ambassador

Last month I finished my term of service for AmeriCorps here at URWA since then I have been filling in as their intern. The specific AmeriCorps program that I was involved in was the NJ Watershed Ambassadors Program (NJWAP). There are twenty Watershed Ambassadors throughout NJ designated to each of New Jersey’s Watershed Management Areas (WMA) and I was lucky enough to fill out my term of service in WMA 8 at URWA. This program will be celebrating its 10th year in existence and URWA has been the host agency for this program from the beginning.

For the NJWAP I performed 52 stream assessments, educated about 1050 people about their watershed through 41 different presentations, trained 100 volunteers to perform their own stream assessments, helped to organize a stream clean up run through the South Branch Watershed Association with over 300 volunteers participating, and helped Randolph Middle School to plant a rain garden at their school all within 9 months! Looking back at it I can’t believe how much I accomplished in such a short time! I have to say that I have to contribute my successful completion to all the wonderful people who I have worked with within this watershed including the fantastic staff at URWA. I only wish I could stay longer!

I am grateful for the opportunity to have served this watershed and this term of service is the beginning of a lifetime of service for me. My plan for the future is to go back to school and become certified as a secondary education teacher for New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I also hope to keep a relationship with URWA through volunteering activities.

If this is the first time you have heard about the NJWAP I encourage you to contact my successor at URWA. There is a variety of educational and stewardship programs that the next ambassador can help you out with.

Suzanne Skrzenski, Watershed Ambassador