Lily C. Kay from Kernsville NC will be moving to Fayetteville in December to do her Americorps Vista service with PAN.

Lily recently received a Bachelors Degree in Earth Science from NCU. We are very excited to have another OSM/VISTA this year and know that Lily’s efforts will continue to support PAN in increasing our opportunities for engaging our community in the mission of advocating responsible economic development and sustainable environmental management.

In mid November Lily will be attending the Eastern Coal Country Roundtable training at the Breaks Interstate Park with Meredith Gregg to learn about watershed issues in Appalachian Region. Meredith our former OSM/VISTA will serve as her supervisor and help plug her into the PAN projects and goals.

If you know of housing for Lily please contact Meredith at 640.2100.

PAN has partnered with The Mountain Institute (TMI) and local schools to help sponsor The West Virginia Stream Samplers program (see article in last issue for more detail). This TMI Appalachia Program, strives to raise awareness about the interconnections between WV’s uplands and downstream environments leading to a greater understanding of the impact of human activity on watershed health, both locally and regionally.

This program provides students and teachers living in the watersheds of West Virginia with an opportunity to engage in hands-on, inquiry-based, outdoor environmental science as part of an academic program Participants will learn the basic principles of water quality and watershed assessment by taking scientific measurements, making observations, documenting results, and drawing conclusions.

Stream Partners Grant awarded to PAN. $5000 has been awarded in support of our Newsletter and environmental education outreach for the coming year 2008-9! Besides the assistance in funding our wonderful quarterly Newsletter this year, we are working with The Mountain Institute and local science  teachers like Hilarie Jones to bring the WV Stream Samples program to Fayette County. [see Create WV pg 2]

Arbuckle Creek Watershed Association (ACWA) was also awarded a Stream Partners Grant to help support their efforts.
Stream Partners is a cooperative effort of the West Virginia Conservation Agency, West Virginia's Division of Environmental Protection, Division of Forestry, and the Division of Natural Resources. The program is housed within the DEP's Division of Water and Waste Management.