David Chuchuca

NYC H2O

NYC H2O is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides educational programs on New York City's urban water system and ecology to school groups and the public. Our mission is "to inspire New Yorkers of all ages to learn about, enjoy and protect their city's local water ecology and needed resources. We aim to motivate students and adults to think about the crucial role of water in their lives so that they can be knowledgeably involved with the responsible future public policy and resilience needed in facing climate change. NYC H2O was founded in 2009 with the intent of providing educational programs about NYC's water system and nature to school groups. Founder Matt Malina, formerly a classroom math teacher, saw the educational value in getting kids outside to interactive water infrastructure sites. Although NYC H2O received its 501(c)(3) designation in May 2012, it began offering education programs in 2009 to adult audiences. Over the last seven years, we have offered 140 educational programs focused on NYC's water system and ecology to a combined audience of 4,500 people. This audience has included dozens of engineers, city planners, and professors, attesting to the quality and informational rigor of the programs. Events have included public lectures on infrastructure and water conservation, beach cleanups, bike, walking and reservoir tours in NYC, hikes upstate, educational, guided paddling trips in the Catskill watershed, and sewage plant tours. We began offering the Water Ecology and Engineering Field Trips Program in 2014 for students from second grade to high school. In 2014, the first year of field trips, we gave 50 tours reaching 1,200 students. In 2015, we gave 95 tours reaching 2,400 students, 90% of whom were from Title I Schools serving low-income students. In 2016, we gave 141 field trips reaching over 3,900 students. We have found that adults and children alike are deeply touched by participating in our activities; resulting teacher interest and word of mouth have rapidly expanded the demand for our school tours. Our goal in 2017 is to offer 180 tours reaching 5,000 students.