“Explorer’s Day on Governors Island,” is a two-day, one-night camping pilot program on Governors Island specifically for urban teens. 

The program focuses on urban forestry and aquatic ecology education, with environmental-focused activities such as water quality testing, estimating tree heights, and tying maritime knots.  The goal of the program is to help young adults develop a greater enthusiasm for local history and awareness of the value of environmental actions.

Students display the tent they just learned how to pitch.

Accomplishments:

§  In 2006, 23 urban teens participated in a two-day, overnight environmental education program on Governors Island.

§  Skills that participants developed during this experience were “applied since then in academic, recreational, and community settings,” suggesting the longer-term positive impacts of the program.

Media Coverage

“Inner-city teenagers, guests of Cornell Extension, camp out on historic Governors Island” – Cornell Chronicle