Energy for the Environment

Waterfest is a fantastic, geared towards kids event that is put on by the City of Stuart and Citizens4h20 to raise awareness about our water resources. 

I was lucky enough to have a booth at this event! Over 210 people stopped by to say hello, learn more about invasive species, and try to win a prize (I think the ocean themed squirt guns were a hit…). Kids could win the prize by matching the 4 samples I had of invasive species (rosarypea, lygodium, melaleuca, and earleaf acacia) with their pictures on my poster. If kids matched correctly, they got the prize! While this game was going on, I would also say to the kids that these species were not helpful to Florida’s ecosystems and that we need to be able to recognize them so we don’t plant them in our yard or so we can report them if we see them. On top of the invasive species samples, I also had a poster I designed on the IveGot1 app, resources from the UF | IFAS extension office and Treasure Coast CISMA, and a poster board I used to outline the harms of aquatic invasive species and how you can help with this problem. 

As always, I loved hearing “Wow, I didn’t know this was invasive!” or “This is in my yard– I’ll try to remove it now!” from surprised parents & homeowners.

Overall, Waterfest was my 3rd festival and the biggest one for me yet! I had a lot of fun talking to the kids & connecting with other people in the invasive species/environmental field. 

Thank you to everyone who came to this awesome event and stopped by my booth!

Here is the flyer for the event: 

And here are some photos:

Thank you for reading and check out my Instagram (@studentsagainstinvasivespecies) for more.