Mono Lake Committee staff had the privilege to attend the International Phalarope Working Group meeting, February 26–29 at Laguna Mar Chiquita in Cordoba, Argentina. I was invited to speak at the conference alongside Experience Ambientalia Executive Director Marina Castellino to discuss the history and growing success of the education program with an international group of conservationists, land managers, researchers, and organizers.
Marina and I were invited to speak at the meeting because the Experience Ambientalia program exists due to the Wilson’s Phalarope. Mono Lake is a sister lake with Laguna Mar Chiquita within the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network because of their combined role in providing critical habitat for Wilson’s Phalaropes. As a part of the effort to conserve saline ecosystems for species like the Wilson’s Phalarope, Experiencia Ambientalia was founded in 2021 to engage youth in conserving Laguna Mar Chiquita—it is an international environmental education program that seeks to better connect youth to their home ecosystems, cultivate a sense of environmental stewardship, and develop a global conservation ethic. Marina helped establish the Mono Lake branch of the program when she came to Lee Vining during the Bird Chautauqua and the Phalarope Festival in 2023.
Over the last six months, students on both sides of the hemisphere have been doing concurrent environmental stewardship and educational activities at their lakes. By celebrating World Coastal Clean-Up Day, World Migratory Bird Day, Duck Days, and World Wetland Day, students from Argentina and North America have combined to put in hundreds of volunteer hours and connect virtually in preparation for an international exchange. In June, students from Argentina will travel to Mono Lake to spend a week with Lee Vining students at the Mono Basin Outdoor Education Center and participate in the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. And in July, the Lee Vining students will travel to Laguna Mar Chiquita to connect with the roots of the program.
The impact of the program and the educational value of the upcoming exchange caught the eye of several important groups and people. Participants at the International Phalarope Working Group meeting voted the Experience Ambientalia program and exchange as the number one educational initiative to support, develop, and expand for the conservation of Wilson’s Phalaropes. Second, United States Ambassador to Argentina, Marc Stanley, caught wind of the program and invited Marina and her students to a workshop, spoke with them about the program, and wished them safe travels to Mono Lake.
Since the conference’s conclusion, students and staff in both hemispheres are more inspired and motivated to continue concurrent environmental stewardship and educational activities while raising the funds needed to connect with their peers and their sister lake. Mammoth Rotary has generously kicked off the funding effort here in the Eastern Sierra with their commitment to support the project. If you are interested in supporting the Experience Ambientalia program, please contact Operations & Philanthropy Director Anna Christensen at (760) 647-6595 x112.
Top photo courtesy of Damián Maestri.