From the Long Island Sound to Lake Champlain, NEIWPCC and its partners offer programs and events to engage and teach young people.

NEIWPCC sponsors programs for urban youth from its Lowell headquarters. The Champlain Basin Educational Initiative goes one better to train teachers to bring the watershed into the classroom.


Youth and the Environment Program

In Lowell, Massachusetts, we offer a six-week Youth and the Environment Program. This EPA-funded program first introduced in 1990, exposes high-school students to career opportunities in the environmental field.

The group spends most weekday mornings at Lowell’s Duck Island Wastewater Treatment Facility. There they assist with day-to-day operations, such as maintenance and water testing in the laboratory. Afternoons are spent learning about various environmental topics, such as water resource management, climate change, and ecology.

Weekly field trips include visits to the New England Aquarium, Squam Lake’s Natural Science Center, EPA’s New England Regional Laboratory, and the Deer Island Treatment Plant in Winthrop.

We have also from time to time teamed up with EPA New England and community groups to offer a summer youth program in Lawrence, Massachusetts.


The Champlain Basin Educational Initiative offers professional development to primary and secondary education teachers in New York, Vermont, and Quebec. Some programs provide graduate-level academic credits.


NEIWPCC staff members at the Hudson River Estuary Program help to run community programs and events, such as the eel project and “A Day in the life of the Hudson and Harbor.” These events involve thousands of students and volunteers.


Additional Information