HarborLAB

HarborLAB (Learning Adventure Boating) is a resource for educators to teach students about estuary and watershed ecology through service learning that benefits the entire community. We also host inclusive public paddling days for recreation and to allow students to become teachers of ecology to the public at large. Using canoes and kayaks, students and volunteers sample water, restore habitat, and observe and photograph wildlife, areas of concern, and industrial activity. Students and volunteers become educators to the community at large through tours, public paddle days, and visits to schools and community centers. FURTHER DETAILS:

We will bring video microscopes to the waterfront and teaching spaces to show the wilderness in a drop of water, and have rubber models of various organisms. Our photographs (microscopic to landscape) will be an open community resource. We showcase our work at City of Water Day, Clearwater Festival, Earth Day New York, and other environmental gatherings. Erik Baard, founder and executive director, also founded the LIC Community Boathouse and is progenitor of the metropolitan area's largest annual harbor festival, City of Water Day. He was designated in 2011 by the state government as the Greenest New Yorker. Founding volunteers and board members include
CUNY science, urban studies, and photography faculty, seasoned paddling and rowing volunteers, and creative professionals.