Women Can Do…Anything!

I was greeted with this: women with chainsaws setting up log demonstrations, electricians setting up outlets to be wired, welders with machines and helmets, a table demonstrating a pebble count, a plane simulator, and a robot dog running around the campus. The immense energy coupled with the stormy day brewing in the background brought even more excitement to the start of a terrific day. 

Early on a Thursday morning, I hopped in my car to make my journey from Southern Vermont to Randolph for the Women Can Do Conference is an annual event for high school girls and gender-expansive youth to explore careers in STEM and trade professions. Hosted by Vermont Works For Women, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting women and youth in every stage of their career journey. 

A chainsaw demonstration happening at the Women Can Do Conference.

When I arrived and found my group setting up the stream table and other props for what we were going to be sharing I had the chance to wander around and explore what other groups were setting up. I was amazed and inspired by the strong energy surrounding me. Women in a variety of careers setting up interactive tables to demonstrate a small part of what they do day to day. 

We finished setting up the stream table, a tool used to demonstrate the dynamic way a river moves and how water flows through a watershed. This was a big topic of discussion on this day.

We asked the students to set up the stream table as if it were a watershed, an area of land where all water that flows or rains down on that piece of land meets up in one single spot.

I looked up from the stream table to a large group of girls flooding the area under the tent dispersing in groups to each table to discover what we had to share. Myself, the newest AmeriCorps member to the team, Amanda our Stewardship Coordinator and Taylor, a Project Manager from Friends of the Winooski, prepared ourselves for the group approaching. They were eager to play in the sand and shape their own river and we were curious to see what they discovered about flooding and the way the river moved through the landscape they would create. 

Stream table demonstration in action.

We welcomed them to the table and talked about what we all had in common: a degree in Environmental Science, our experience with that major and what we are all up to in our careers now. We then asked them to build their own town with a river flowing through. Because it’s common practice in Vermont to build towns along the river, we had fake trees, animals, and little houses for them to place. They figured out where to put their town and how to situate their river. Some made straight rivers going directly through town, while others made long windy rivers using the whole table. Some built mountains to place their houses atop, and some put cars and trees directly in the river emulating a dam. 

We turned on the water and their “rivers” started flowing through the town, then we turned up the pressure a little more to emulate a more severe flood. That’s when the light bulbs started to go off: “Oh I’ve seen this before” or “This happened in my town.” Most students had experienced flooding firsthand in places like Johnson, St. Johnsbury and Montpelier. And they had questions: Why is this happening? What made the river flood now? Why did we build all our towns right next to rivers? 

We discussed the history of Vermont rivers. We built our towns along rivers for convenience, beauty, and easy access to cool water to swim in.  We tried to straighten rivers for industry, farms, and town development. We thought we could control rivers, by damming them, dredging them and controlling water flow for power. Today, we know this isn’t true, and we see the consequences. Straight, dredged, dammed, and armored rivers make water flower faster and faster, making floods worse and worse. 

A group discussion of what we saw happening in the stream table.

As we moved through the day answering these different questions and exploring the topic of fluvial geomorphology, the study of how rivers and streams change over time and how rivers interact with the landforms they create. I felt the sense that this was something these girls were passionate about and excited to understand more about.  The reality is that water is powerful, and rivers will do what they want no matter how many ways we try to control them – which is why Vermont River Conservancy helps people move away from rivers, and helps make sure rivers have space to regain their natural bends and curves that slow water, and help keep communities safer – a lesson that became obvious for the girls getting their hands dirty at the stream table, and a lesson we know they’ll take home to their communities, where they’ll see their backyard rivers with a new lens. 

At the end of the event we enjoyed a hot lunch which was so nice after having wet hands in the stream table on a cold day. I felt so excited about the community of women I just met; women already doing great work and the future class of women about to do even greater work. 

It’s safe to say that I feel held and excited by the community of women in conservation in Vermont and all the amazing work that is being done. As an organization Vermont River Conservancy is excited to be doing this work, educating the next generation of informed community members on the importance of river conservation.