Ellen Zuckerman '07 credits her passion for aquatic activism to early correspondence with a cephalopod.
"This is going to sound dorky, but I had this teacher in elementary school, Ms. Smiley, who had us write letters to Mr. Octopus — I still have all of them. It got me excited about the relationships between people and water," Zuckerman said.
Now Zuckerman serves as president of Princeton University Water Watch, a joint project of AmeriCorps and the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group that monitors water pollution, educates students and homeowners, and cleans local rivers and lakes.
This semester, Water Watch plans to work with the Oxfam and UNICEF branches on campus "to emphasize the interconnections, how environmental problems relate to social problems," Zuckerman said.
A geosciences major, she "worked this summer in Bermuda, looking into the network of underground caves there, doing a lot of water monitoring."
"About 75 endangered species live in this series of limestone caves, which many residents use to capture the sewage from their septic systems," Zuckerman said.
The monitoring group of Water Watch "tries through quantitative measurement to determine the 'quality' of our local waterways," group member Alistair Boettiger '07 wrote in an email.
As for Water Watch's president, Boettiger had nothing but praise.
"Ellen is always ready to help out with any of the three groups and has participated substantially in each. When one of the groups runs into difficulty getting volunteers, equipment or vehicles for its projects, she has worked hard to see that their needs are met," Boettiger said.
Zuckerman cringes when she sees people fishing and swimming in Lake Carnegie.
"There are so many geese there. Fecal levels are so high," she noted.
A 2004-05 report issued by Water Watch confirms that fecal coliform bacteria counts in Lake Carnegie exceed national health standards for swimmable bodies of water.
Water Watch holds regular cleanups of Lake Carnegie and other local waterways.
A typical haul includes propane canisters, lawn chairs, construction debris, countless bottles "and some really gross stuff," Zuckerman said.
The group aims to involve local residents not affiliated with the University.
"I was on the phone this morning calling up Boy Scout troops and Girl Scout Brownie troops," Zuckerman said.
Students and community members don impervious wading pants for work in shallow water and use canoes to reach garbage further offshore. Around 20 volunteers participated in the most recent operation.
"We pulled out a total of 60 pounds of trash," Zuckerman said. "Sometimes you find tires in the strangest places, far away from roadways."
This spring, Water Watch plans to travel to the Jersey shore for a beach cleanup.
Zuckerman described how she attended town meetings religiously freshman year, keeping tabs on decisions affecting the watershed.
"One week they mentioned that there were no longer funds to educate the public on water quality and pollution issues. Since the government lacked the resources to inform the community, we immediately decided to organize a community canvas," Zuckerman said.
Water Watch members went door to door, explaining to Princeton residents how storm runoff, laden with lawn pesticides and fertilizers, inexorably pollutes Lake Carnegie.
"One reason why I picked Water Watch was that they had such a focus on education. We go into elementary schools and middle schools and teach lessons there," Zuckerman said.
Water Watch sometimes teams with advanced placement science classes to monitor pollution and biodiversity in streams around Princeton. The group also brings its message into town.
"We went to Palmer Square to pass out educational material to little kids and to talk with community members about water problems and how they can make a difference."
Zuckerman hopes to impart her zeal for environmental protection to the next generation after leaving the University.
"I want to teach earth science in an elementary or middle school."
Original URL: http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2006/02/23/14582/
