The Pulteney St. Survey

Water-Blogged

By Jessie Meyers Moore ’10

When Rachel Calabro ’93 declared her major, she was one of less than a dozen in her year to choose environmental studies—a discipline which, at the time, was not an established program but an individual major.

“It was cool to be at the beginning of a movement,” she says, of what is now one of the fastest growing majors at the Colleges. “It’s great to see all of these sustainability initiatives that HWS has going on now.”

The Rhode Island native who “always wanted to be a planner or policy person, as well as a scientist,” currently serves as a community organizer and advocate for Save the Bay. This watershed protection non-profit in Providence, R.I., safeguards the Narragansett Bay watershed which includes the Blackstone, Taunton and Pawtuxet Rivers, as well as Aquidneck Island and the smaller watersheds in between.

Calabro’s work has included saltmarsh restoration, coastal beach management and lobbying for legislative and policy issues related to Narragansett Bay and river restoration. Her blog, Watershed Writings, covers topics from climate change to spring fish runs. Dam removal is a particularly popular topic among followers.

“Blogging is a really good way to highlight links, news footage, articles and pictures, and it’s a great way to talk informally about issues,” she says. “I connect people with the Bay and help them understand why it’s imperative to protect and restore it.”

You can read Watershed Writings at www. watershedwritings.blogspot.com.