Thank you to The Freshkills Park Alliance staff for supporting our students in realizing multiple objectives this year. Thank you to Mark Murphy, President of the Freshkills Park Alliance; Christopher Ricker, Freshkills Park Program Coordinator; and Shannon Erickson, Director of Education for the Freshkills Park Alliance.
Check out the Fresh Kills project story map here:
-Jada Quijano, Sophomore
This experiential learning program exemplifies how academic institutions and organizations can work together. The success of this collaboration paves the way for continued partnerships in the future. Students can gain valuable workplace skills while contributing to the park’s development, and the Alliance gets valuable data to guide their restoration efforts. This win-win situation can be a model for future projects, fostering environmental awareness and scientific research in urban green spaces.
Hello, my name is Jada Quijano. I am a sophomore that has had the pleasure of working with our school on a project in collaboration with Freshkills in Staten Island. For those who don’t know, Freshkills was a landfill in Staten Island for over 50 years, which was then converted into wetlands in efforts to restore the natural land that used to occupy this space. Our task for this project was to perform a habitat assessment. A habitat assessment is an assessment used to check the quality of the environment. Since this park is planning to open up to the public in the near future, we needed to perform a habitat assessment to ensure the habitat is thriving and check the differences in the environment since the establishment of these wetlands.
I was recruited on this project as a drone operator/captain of the drone team. Alongside Jake Kadar, another sophomore on this project, we used drones to collect video footage and data of the existing conditions. This project was actually the first time I ever operated a drone. Let me just say, I had an amazing experience working on this project. Even just the setup of our new drones was exciting in my eyes. I have always loved technology, so getting the opportunity to work so closely with new and upcoming drones was an experience of a lifetime. There were 2 different drones used on this project: the FIMI X8SE and the DJI Mini 4 Pro. Originally, I operated the FIMI drone. However, due to lack of features, stability, and overall build quality, I switched over to the DJI Mini 4 Pro. This drone is absolutely amazing. It’s packed to the brim with features. It records in 4K 60 fps, has omnidirectional sensing, which allows the drone to avoid collisions with nearby objects, a flight time ranging between 34-45 minutes, and so much more. I fell in love with this drone the minute I got the opportunity to fly it. When it was time to present our project, I was tasked with talking about the equipment we used and future equipment we plan to acquire in the future. The presentation went amazingly well, and I even attracted the attention of staff and guests with my knowledge of drones and passion regarding the topic.
The reason we used drones in this project was actually due to the rising popularity of drone usage in this field, as well as showcasing how drones can be beneficial to projects like these. From a community perspective, the usage of drones can contribute to preserving and even improving the condition of surrounding areas. For example, performing habitat assessments like the one we conducted at Fresh Kills can be used to monitor how our neighborhoods, parks, etc. are doing and implant new measures/procedures to ensure our land remains healthy. From a personal standpoint, this project has benefited me in several ways. To start, it granted me the opportunity to explore a field I love while contributing to the wellbeing of our environment. While working on this project, I have also had the opportunity to make meaningful connections that may benefit me in the future. This project can be used as a learning opportunity moving forward as well. It has opened my eyes to the conditions of our surroundings and how we need to work to improve them.
As for the future of this project and/or similar projects, we already have a few plans in mind. With the help of Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Codio, we plan to dive deeper into the world of drones and acquire new technology to help out in future projects. We even plan to acquire robotic components to implement into this project or hopefully use to form a club. I plan to continue working as a part of this team moving forward as it has been a life changing experience for me. I truly enjoy what I do here at WHSAD and cannot wait to see what we do moving forward.
Mr. Abraham Rodriguez, Sophomore Architecture Teacher
For our first annual science symposium project, we focused on exploring the convergence of environmental science and technology integration to support ecological restoration efforts at Freshkills Park. Through field studies and drone aerial photography, we intend to document changes in the environmental conditions of grasslands and wetlands at the park and maintain a GIS database in ArcGIS. Students in future environmental science classes can use the data gathered to measure and examine how the ecosystem continues to evolve.
It was pretty amazing to see a variety of skill sets put to use by the students. From going into the field and operating drones to preparing a GIS map, these learning experiences are tied to real-world applications and career pathways. As our city continues to invest in ecological restoration and infrastructure projects, there is a growing need for drone and GIS technicians to map and monitor existing assets or habitats.
As a school we took this opportunity to explore our capabilities and learn how to use emerging technology and digital mapping tools. In the project’s next phase, we hope to improve our data collection workflow and provide high-resolution images that can be used for scientific inquiry and further habitat assessment.