Experience Ambientalia: The exchange at Mono Lake 

After a year of planning, organizing, and fundraising, youth from Laguna Mar Chiquita and Mono Lake finally met each other and spent a week together at the Mono Basin Outdoor Education Center as part of the Experience Ambientalia program.

Students and leaders from Argentina and Lee Vining gathered at Mono Lake for a week-long exchange last month. Top row L to R: Romi (Argentina), Marina (ARG), Julian (Lee Vining), Salo (ARG), Ramiro (ARG), Uriel (ARG), David (LV), Heidi (LV), Ludmi (ARG), Diego (LV), Alden (LV). Bottom row L to R: Manu (ARG), Lu (ARG), Marti (ARG), Yessenia (LV), Flor (ARG), Santiago (LV). Photo courtesy of Marina Castellino.

Experience Ambientalia seeks to better connect youth to their home ecosystems, introduce them to sister saline lakes across the Western Hemisphere, and practice environmental stewardship. Founded in 2021 in the Ansenuza region of the Córdoba province in Argentina, Experience Ambientalia was started by Fundación Líderes de Ansenuza (FLA) and the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) to engage youth in the conservation of Laguna Mar Chiquita. Last summer, Experience Ambientalia Executive Director Marina Castellino met with Mono Lake Committee staff and local Lee Vining teachers to establish an international “flock” to the program while visiting Mono Lake. Mono Lake is a sister lake with Laguna Mar Chiquita within WHSRN because of the lakes’ combined role in providing critical habitat for Wilson’s Phalaropes, a shorebird facing serious threats to its population due to the decline of healthy saline lakes globally.

During the week-long student exchange, the group visited Mono Lake several times to learn about its ecology and conservation status. Photo courtesy of Marina Castellino.

Over the last ten months, students on both sides of the hemisphere have been doing concurrent environmental stewardship and educational activities at Mono Lake and Laguna Mar Chiquita. By celebrating World Coastal Clean-Up Day, World Migratory Bird Day, Duck Days, and World Wetlands Day; discussing the Wilson’s Phalarope Endangered Species Act petition; and participating in the Intermountain West Shorebird Survey, students from Argentina and Lee Vining have combined to put in hundreds of volunteer hours in preparation for an international exchange dedicated to saline lake education and conservation.

Each student received their own pair of NOCS binoculars to use at the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. Photo courtesy of Flor Barbero.

June 16–23 the first part of this exchange occurred. Five students, one teacher, and four FLA staff members from Laguna Mar Chiquita came to Mono Lake and communed with six students, one teacher, and Mono Lake Committee staff members at the Mono Basin Outdoor Education Center (OEC). For the first half of the week students participated in a traditional OEC program led by Santiago Escruceria, Mono Lake Committee OEC Manager. During the week, students slept outside, cooked and ate meals together, learned about the natural and human history of the Mono Basin, saw stars in a dark night sky, played in the snow, and made real-life connections.

Towards the end of the week, students participated in the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. Thanks to the help of NOCS Binoculars and donations from Chautauqua participants, each student received a brand-new pair of 10×32 Field Issue NOCS binoculars. The reaction from the students upon receiving the binoculars was overwhelmingly positive—tears of joy, screams of excitement, and genuine astonishment filled the air. The binoculars literally transformed the students’ perspective of the world, and through the Chautauqua weekend the students spent hours using them to observe birds, butterflies, and wildflowers.

The students practiced with their binoculars on birding excursions in the Mono Basin. Photo by Ryan Garrett.

The Mono Lake and Laguna Mar Chiquita students also developed and delivered a bilingual presentation at the Chautauqua to share their experience in the program, its importance, and its future. Reflecting honestly about his experience, Lee Vining student David Velez said, “when I started doing Experience Ambientalia, I really honestly had no clue about Mono Lake. But having Ryan teach us about Mono Lake and its history has made me really love living here.” And consequently, after learning about Laguna Mar Chiquita and its interconnectedness to Mono Lake, he remarked that “these lakes are deserving of our respect, knowledge, and protection.” Through Experience Ambientalia, these students are now involved in making this happen, which is why Diego Murguia stated that “now more than ever, we need to empower and strengthen our youth.”

Canoeing together on Mono Lake. Photo courtesy of Marina Castellino.

What students from Laguna Mar Chiquita and Mono Lake want for the future is “youth programs and youth committees dedicated to conserving both Mono Lake, Great Salt Lake, and Laguna Mar Chiquita, and every other saline lake across the hemisphere,” Diego continued. And as Yessenia Martinez said, “We want to inspire the younger generation” to make “lifelong change[s]” for the conservation of our saline lakes. Speaking about the relationships and experiences shared by the students from Laguna Mar Chiquita and Mono Lake over the course of their week together, Alden Seiberling said, “while we come from different cultures, through this experience, we have discovered so many similarities. And surprising enough, it is not the phalaropes that migrate between us [that is most similar] but it is the passion and the love we have for our homes.” This passion that students from Mono Lake and Laguna Mar Chiquita share bonded them together through the week. Julian Santillan said, “by exchange cultures, perspectives, ideas, music, and dances, everything, and not only did make friends, but we made a family … a big, fat, family.”

The students’ presentation at the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua was well received by an enthusiastic audience. Photo by Katie Smith.

The Chautauqua presentation was met with a standing ovation. The students and their success are inspirational and the exchange week at Mono Lake was a huge accomplishment for youth education and saline lake conservation collaboration.

Camaraderie atop a granite dome in Yosemite National Park. Photo by Katie Smith.

Experience Ambientalia continues next week as the students from Mono Lake travel to Laguna Mar Chiquita to reconnect with their peers in Argentina. During this week, the students will participate in activities, workshops, and visits to different tourist spots in the region. There will be birding outings, coastal cleanups, talks, sign-making workshops, kayaking, horseback riding, museum visits, and more.

Downtime during the week included plenty of futbol in the front yard at the Mono Basin Outdoor Education Center. Photo courtesy of Flor Barbero.

This exchange would not be possible without the support of Mammoth Lakes RotaryBishop Sunrise RotaryDeChambeau Creek FoundationJune Lake Women’s ClubEastern Sierra Audubon Society, and Mono Lake Committee members.

We are still seeking support to cover essential expenses and educational materials to provide these life-changing opportunities to students. If you are interested in supporting the Experience Ambientalia program, you can do that by clicking below:

Experience Ambientalia continues next week at Laguna Mar Chiquita in Argentina, where the students will reunite for more education, stewardship, and conservation together. Photo by Ryan Garrett.

Top photo courtesy of Marina Castellino.