Youth Leaders Convene at Youth Summit
On September 21, 144 high school and college students from the Quad Cities gathered at the Isle of Capri Convention Center as a part of the Upper Mississippi River Conference. The four hour summit, planned by River Action’s Youth Advisory Board, gave the students an opportunity to meet peers who are as committed to environmental action as they are and to learn about how people elsewhere on the river are responding to environmental challenges.

The summit brought in speakers on a variety of issues affecting the Mississippi and our environment: invasive species, creating urban habitats, threatened wildlife, human impacts on the river, best practices by corporations, and things individuals can do to improve water quality. The keynote speaker was Brian Soenen, Iowa’ DNR, Director of Project AWARE—a volunteer program focused on cleaning up watersheds from the seat of a canoe.