{"id":212673,"date":"2024-04-24T07:25:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T11:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=212673"},"modified":"2024-04-23T11:00:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T15:00:22","slug":"cahnr-senior-supports-community-environmental-projects-through-mentorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/04\/cahnr-senior-supports-community-environmental-projects-through-mentorship\/","title":{"rendered":"CAHNR Senior Supports Community Environmental Projects Through Mentorship"},"content":{"rendered":"

During her time at UConn, Alexandra Blas \u201924 (CAHNR<\/a>) has had an impact beyond the University. The allied health sciences major has worked with high school students to better their communities and their environments.<\/p>\n

\"Countdown<\/p>\n

Last year, she took a course with Laura Cisneros, associate extension professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. At the end of the course, Cisneros offered students the opportunity to be part of the Difference Makers Mentor program<\/a> in the Natural Resources Conservation Academy (NRCA) at UConn.<\/p>\n

Blas jumped at the chance to be a part of this program that pairs Connecticut high school students with UConn undergraduate mentors and community partners to implement environmentally focused projects in their communities.<\/p>\n

Blas worked with three students from Bridgeport, Stratford, and Redding, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very new experience for me,\u201d Blas says. \u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about environmental science or natural resources. So, I came in new to everything. I worked along with my students, and I think I learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the start of the program, students spent a week learning about different environmental issues and brainstorming ideas of how to address them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that one week, they already had an idea of what they wanted to do,\u201d Blas says.<\/p>\n

The student at Bassick High School in Bridgeport restored a garden in their community, which is now ready for planting.<\/p>\n

The student from Redding worked with restaurant owners and community members in Norwalk, educating them about the benefits of using oyster shells for gardening rather than disposing of them in less sustainable ways.<\/p>\n

The third project at Bunnell High School in Stratford created a greenhouse and green rooms in their high school where students can spend time soaking up the mental health benefits of being around plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a fun way to get in touch with nature but also create something that\u2019s so unique to yourself and to your community,\u201d Blas says.<\/p>\n

The students presented their projects at the Youth in STEM: A Leadership and Changemaker Summit at the Connecticut Science Center on April 6. Three students were selected to receive scholarships. This is the second project year of the Difference Makers Mentor program.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past nine to 10 months, I\u2019ve witnessed our Difference Makers Mentors\u2019 dedication to their mentees and their transformation as leaders and mentors,\u201d Cisneros says. \u201cThey\u2019ve put their heart into their work, from researching new topics to find resources and community partners for our students, to pivoting last minute to meet with their mentees in the evenings or weekends, to driving across the state to support their students as they carry out a portion of their projects. They are true advocates for their mentees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blas says she intends to remain involved in community efforts like the ones she helped her mentees realize after graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I could, I would do it all over again,\u201d Blas says. \u201cI want to get more involved in community projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduation, Blas will pursue her master\u2019s degree in pharmacogenomics starting in the fall. Blas\u2019 ultimate career goal is to work in pharmacy in precision medicine.<\/p>\n

Blas says her experience in the allied health sciences program allowed her to explore fields she never thought she would.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was exposed to a lot,\u201d Blas says. \u201cI thought I was only going to be in allied health classes. But then meeting different professors, taking different electives, I feel that you\u2019re exposed to a lot and there\u2019s opportunity wherever you look. I\u2019m grateful for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This work relates to CAHNR\u2019s Strategic Vision area focused on\u00a0<\/em>Advancing Adaptation and Resilience in a Changing Climate<\/u><\/em> and Enhancing Health and Well-Being Locally, Nationally, and Globally.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Follow\u00a0<\/em>UConn CAHNR<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on social media<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Participating in the Difference Makers Mentor Program allowed senior Alexandra Blas to learn about environmentalism and her love of near-peer mentoring<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":212675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2296,2224,2229,1715,2304,2192,2300,99,2387,2235,2227,2458],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2140],"class_list":["post-212673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-allied-health-sciences","category-cahnr","category-commencement","category-community-impact","category-extension","category-fairfield-county","category-natural-resources-environment","category-student-life","category-sustainability","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-undergraduates"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 00:16:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212673"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213020,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212673\/revisions\/213020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/212675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212673"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=212673"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=212673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}