After two days of doing various field work activities with Dr. Brian Hickey, from the St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences, with Dr. Dawn Bazely, and with York University graduate students Sheila Colla and Jason Gibbs, a group of students wrote the following advice about field work:

                   

Students involved in the York/Seneca YSTOP , wrote this entry:

YSTOP is an environmental camp where you do activities which shows different environmental professions. YSTOP is also for students who aren’t necessarily considering college or university and shows them college or university isn’t just work, it can also be fun.  It gives all the students amazing learning experiences. This program provides follow-up mentorship from graduate students and professors for students who are interested in one of the many environmental areas covered in the program.

At YSTOP students perform field and lab work to examine the environment. Students also learn how to use new scientific technology to examine micro-organisms. This program gives the students a view of what environmental scientists do and that it doesn’t always involve being in an office!

The YSTOP program hosted by YSIMSTE is called Urban and Rural Youth as Environmental Scientists.  Two days into the 6 day program some of the students created this description of the program:

YSTOP stands for Youth Science and Technology Outreach Program. This particular YSTOP program brings together students from urban and rural communities in order to learn about different aspects of the environment. This program encourages students to actually take a closer look at our wonderful world. This program takes place at Seneca College, King Campus and at York University, Keele Campus. Throughout this program different professors and graduate students came and taught these students about the environment, including sessions on animals, insects and plants. Since this program takes place at Seneca, in a rural area, and at York, in an urban area, students from the country get to visit the city and students from the city get to visit the country.