Mill River Stewards: Exploration
Mill River Stewards
Exploring nature and personal potential
Stewards explore both nature and their own personal potential through field trips. Visits to highly managed spaces such as New York Botanical Garden and The Highline in New York City invite show how nature can be used as a teaching tool and invite Stewards to put their own newly-acquired knowledge to the test. Trips to Central Park and Governor’s Island exemplify how urban parks are integrated into their community and provide places of leisure, recreation, and education for visitors. And kayaking on the Long Island Sound pushes Stewards out of their comfort zone as they paddle out to Fish Island in Norwalk for a day of adventure and self-reliance.
Alumni Spotlight: Mischael Anilus
Q: What is your current educational or job status?
A: I am currently a sophomore at Tufts University studying mechanical engineering and physics.
Q: What is your ultimate career goal?
A: Right now I’m not sure where I want to go, possibly into research in order to get some publications.
Q: Have you done anything environmentally related since this program? (volunteering, classes, jobs, etc).
A: I’ve done some volunteering / trash pick up since my time at Mill River. I’ve also done several environmental engineering projects. In high school, for my capstone project which I needed to do in order to graduate, I chose to create a rain barrel water filter. This could be used to filter acid rain and contaminated water, and could be an easily transportable source of clean water. During freshman year of college, I took a design / biomimicry course in which all of our designs had to be based off of the environment.
Q: What was your favorite part of being a Steward?
A: My favorite part of being a Steward was being able to take a break and learn about the environment that I grew up in.
Q: How has your experience as a Steward influenced your life?
A: Definitely an appreciation for the environment, and I would say a good eye. For example (even four years later), when traveling I still notice the changes in flora from area to area, which I find really fascinating and definitely came from my time at Mill River.