A student who takes the environmental science course with Dr. Margo Andrews is in for an experience — and it happens to be an experience that mirrors what environmental scientists do in the real world. And Dr. Andrews should know — her first job out of college was as a watershed ecologist in Baltimore City, Maryland.
In 2017, Dr. Andrews began taking her students occasionally to the Lewis Brook, a stream located on the north side of campus, for water-based labs. In 2020, when the entire School rediscovered the Lewis Brook stream after several Pennington staff members and students cleared paths in the woods, Dr. Andrews saw not only a chance to incorporate even more lab work into her course, but also it was the type of lab work that she herself had done as a professional in her field.
Students now conduct year-long biological and chemical studies which focus on monitoring the water quality of the School’s stream. In doing so, students collect and study several macroinvertebrates, such as the commonly found crayfish, but also rarer species including damselfly and cranefly larva. Dr. Andrews said that initially, students can be hesitant to reach into the water to pull out these creatures. However, after a short time, her students happily pull on their waders to walk down Green Street and trudge through the water.
“It’s great to see students acting like kids again,” says Dr. Andrews, who joined Pennington in 2015. “They get excited to see snakes and frogs and fish, and even worms and leeches!”
As Dr. Andrews points out, students benefit greatly from the School’s unique geography as the campus is bisected by two watersheds, both of which flow into the Atlantic. The Lewis Brook stream feeds into the Raritan River which runs past New York City; on the other side of campus, water from the School’s pond, Lake Lowellden, heads south to the Delaware River and travels past Cape May.
Along with work in the School’s stream and pond, Dr. Andrews’ students in the environmental science course also utilize the School’s vegetable garden as an outdoor lab. Along with soil lab projects, students develop a green thumb or two, learning firsthand about weeding and fall as well as spring planting. For the last couple of years, Dr. Andrews has also engaged high school students in a School-wide composting project whereby student advisory groups take turns each day after school transporting our kitchen’s food waste—an estimated annual 2,000 lbs. worth—to a compost heap on campus. Students then use the resulting natural fertilizer when planting vegetables in the School’s garden.
It’s easy to see why Dr. Andrews’ Environmental Science course has been added to Pennington’s list of lab sciences – and there are no better labs than the ones found outdoors on our campus!