NUCFAC PLT Greenschools! YLINC Summer 2014 Day Three: Gardens of Organic Eatin'

The kids at the University at Houston.

Our future conservation leaders saw flocks of birds of all sizes and colors at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge for their first stop. Canvasback Ducks, Great White Egrets, Wood Storks and Roseated Spoonbills filled the sky with a living confetti as we took the auto tour from the Discovery Center. Long-time volunteer David Brandes and Outdoor Recreation Coordinator Tim Schnider of the USFWS then brought out their fascinating alligator, corn snake, speckled king snake and hog-nosed snake for a touch and feel experiential learning program. Y-LINC kids learned about the important functions and characteristics of snakes.

A flood of Roseate Spoonbills at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge.

The scientists at the USDA/Agricultural Research Service's Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) introduced the fascinating research projects that they are working on, and as always, our campers asked lots of questions. Dr. Mike Grusak showed us botanical research projects involving breeding plants to be more nutritious, Dr. Gray talked to the kids about researching how plants absorb contaminants that may potentially make certain crops dangerous, Dr. Moe Peo took us into the ingenious whole room calorimeters built in 1991 by a doctoral student, Maryse Laurent  showed us the tools that CNRC uses to measure body fat, bone density and muscle mass, and Research Coordinator Betsy Ramirez showed us how they are evaluating novel uses of video games and text messaging to help young people become more active.

Dr. Mike Grusak shows off hydroponics, which allows USDA scientists to exclude
one nutrient or factor at a time in their research. 

Jay Neal of the The University of Houston presented their extensive campus gardens, and talked about how the university is developing new ways to grow plants, especially focusing on hydroponics. Their aquaponics operation devoured the attention of our Green Ambassadors, especially its simple, low cost set up involving materials available at any hardware store. Nearly 200 tilapia create enough waste to create a nutrient rich solution that grows plants in a woven rock wool and Styrofoam medium.

Dr. Jay Neal's aquaponics project at the University of Houston's Hilton College

We ended our day at the Alabama Gardens, a urban cornucopia of thousands of crop plants producing hundred and hundreds of pounds of food. The garden has been lauded by the City of Houston, the Texas Congress and the U.S. Congress many dozens of times since it first began in 1985. Yards of okra, beans, greens, sweet potato, tomato, and more grew with vigor in their completely organic garden, with not a drop of pesticide or chemical fertilizer necessary.

Yards of String beans at the Alabama Gardens in Houston, a part of Urban Harvest

Tomorrow, our students will be introduced to the electrifying faculty at Stephen F. Austin State University.