Ann's Project

Environmental Justice Brochure

Before this internship, I knew very little about the environmental injustices that my neighbors, friends, family, and I were facing. Throughout this summer, I learned about the world around me, the neighborhood that I am living in, Lents. I learned about the harmful air toxins that Portland residents are facing. I learned how we, as a community, are rarely a part of the decision making process. I learned about the importance of environmental justice, and how there needs to be justice for communities of color and low-income communities, so that they can live without the fear of pollution in their water and air. For my project, I wanted to educate my peers on the environmental justice movement. I created a brochure titled, "What is Environmental Justice?", which illustrates the environmental issues in Southeast Portland, a summary of the Just Transition Principals, a call to action, and a resources page.

Importance of Pollinators Display

One of the activities we did during our internship was identifying and learning about pollinators at Lents Park. We caught a variety of pollinators in vented containers and put them in a cooler for 10 minutes (They were safe, of course). By doing this, we learned about our little friends, most of which were bees. I learned about how crucial pollinators are for our environment and our food system. That's why for the second part of my project, I wanted to showcase the importance of pollinators, and how they need our help. I researched the roles of bees, wasps, butterflies, beetles, bats, flies, moths, and hummingbirds, hand drew the different insects, and put them all on a 26 x 40 inch interactive sunflower display I constructed with card stock paper. Under each sunflower petal is a description of what that insect does.