YESSS! (Youth Engagement Summer STEM at Sea!), a free summer program for NYC youth who are interested in marine science, launched on June 26th with a group of 20 students.
Students learned about the estuary surrounding KCC’s campus, including the physical and chemical properties of the water, its fish and macroinvertebrates, and their role in food chains and webs, zooplankton and phytoplankton, and how microplastics effect larger food chains. Students got their hands dirty by collecting specimens from the KCC beach with plankton nets and trawls, and analyzed them back in the lab using field and digital microscopes.
The ultimate goal of YESSS! is to get students interested in marine STEM through hands-on activities and experiences. We want them to build the knowledge to understand that humans can make responsible choices to protect the dynamic underwater wilderness that surrounds KCC, Brooklyn and NYC, as a whole.
YESSS! is generously funded by Assemblywoman Jaime Williams (Assembly District 59 in Brooklyn) and Assemblyman Pheffer-Amato (District 23 in Queens).