Worldwide Water Education

September 18, 2012

Road Trip! Project WET USA Ventures West for Water Education

Project WET USA Executive Director
and guest blogger Dr. Laurina Lyle

Yesterday the Project WET USA Team left Bozeman, MT to begin a nine-day road trip across the Pacific Northwest, bringing water education to communities in Hope, British Columbia and the Seattle area.

But imagine this: A little over 200 years ago, we would have been making this trip by water, as the 1804 Lewis and Clark Expedition did. We would have chosen our departure time carefully and wouldn't have dared to start in late-September, since winter would soon be upon the Rocky Mountains. Rather, we would have planned our crossing of the Continental Divide for months, preparing for the hardship and uncertainty ahead.

Project WET USA's route (map by Google)

The 44 members of the Lewis and Clark expedition were called the "Corps of Discovery." Our Project WET "discovery corps" has only three members: national network assistant Theresa Schrum, Project WET special projects manager Molly Ward and me, Laurina Lyle, executive director and national network coordinator for the Project WET USA program.

Molly loves to drive so she'll be at the wheel a sizable part of the time. Specializing in facts and interesting tidbits, Theresa will serve as the navigator. I'm the in-the-car backseat writer on this trip and will be blogging and tweeting about our travels.

The Clark Fork River in western Montana

The first leg of our journey will take us by the Grand Coulee Dam, the United States' largest electric power-producing facility, and then into Canada where we will be organizing the educational part of a water festival in Hope, BC. For the second part, we will return to the United States to conduct leadership training for Project WET USA and water educators in Seattle.

On August 30, Kirsten blogged about Rachel Carson's insight into a child's sense of wonder and the important role it plays in early childhood education. The three of us know that our own love of water began early in life and therefor understand why water education for children is so important.

While we won't be in the water, I will be posting digital images of water ways we see along the way. We are eager to share with you a few snapshots of the view from our car window. Follow our 1500-mile journey to teach about water and discover the waters of the Pacific Northwest on this blog, our Facebook page or by searching for the #wetusaroadtrip hashtag on Twitter. We welcome your pictures and thoughts about your favorite water places.

In the meantime, here's your first water question. What is the name of the watershed that both Bozeman and St. Louis, MO are in? Answer in comments below, on our Facebook page or via the #wetusaroadtrip hashtag on Twitter!

—LIL