Virginia Beach Environmental Studies Program (ESP) Student Projects and Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Associate and Level 1 Certifications
In October 2025, Wetlands Watch continued their Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Associate (CBLP-A) training for young people at the Virginia Beach Environmental Studies Program (ESP) to graduate a CBLP-A cohort of Juniors. This course gives youth hands-on sustainable landscaping experience to introduce them to fundamental concepts in green infrastructure designs and conservation landscaping. As part of a grant from the Batten Family Educational Achievement Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, Stephanie Letourneau, Wetlands Watch Community Science & Outreach Staff, worked with ESP teachers to revise and refine much of the CBLP-A curriculum programming and scheduling for Juniors following feedback and insight from the previous school year. In a program first, CBLP Level 1 instruction was brought to Seniors who had completed the CBLP-A course the previous year, resulting in 4 new ESP students being CBLP Level 1 certified! Perry Verge, Wetlands Watch’s CBLP Virginia Coordinator, took this course alongside students to become CBLP Level 1 Certified as well! These sustainable landscaping courses introduce young adults to principles in green infrastructure, conservation landscaping, and stormwater management, giving them translatable workforce skills and guidance in future career endeavors and interests.
Starting in October 2025, Wetlands Watch met with the ESP students to lead their participation in the Catch the King tide data collection event. In the Spring, the ESP Juniors attended policy sessions designed to introduce students to local flood planning and policy and the General Assembly process. Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director, and Ian Blair, Policy Program Director, of Wetlands Watch provided this instruction and shared Wetlands Watch’s work to shape local, state, and federal policy around flood resilience and climate adaptation. As a part of the CBLP-A course, ESP students were brought on three local field-based visits. This included a tour of the Virginia Tech Agriculture Research and Extension Center (AREC), and an ocean front property featuring conservation landscaping. The final field visit was to Bo Creek Stormwater Park at the Virginia Beach Recreation Center with a tour of the site’s stormwater pipes and plant installation led by the installation engineer. The students got to put their coursework to use in their final project, where they designed their own conservation landscape at a site of their choice.
These projects highlighted the students' creativity, designing projects for spaces such as the Brock Environmental Center and their own backyards, where some convinced their parents to actually install their conservation landscape! Through this partnership with ESP, Wetlands Watch is building a network of living infrastructure professionals and youth passionate and knowledgeable about nature-based design. We are reminded of the desire students have in being a part of resilient solutions and what students can do when given the tools to think outside of the box and apply their learning.
