In Florida, we spend our lives walking on water. The aquifer beneath our feet supplies 92% of the state's population with drinking water, yet the concept of an aquifer tends to be abstract and confusing to most people, largely because they have never seen it.
The Walking on Water environmental education program, a partnership between Jennifer Adler, the University of Florida, Florida Sea Grant, and National Geographic, seeks to change the next generation's relationship with water. Walking on Water is a project focused on teaching elementary school students about the water in the aquifer beneath their feet, which not only supplies their drinking water but also feeds the highest density of freshwater springs in the world. The program immerses elementary school students in Florida's freshwater springs with cameras in hand, empowering them to explore their water source and teaching them where their water comes from and why it matters.
The program includes field trips to the springs to learn underwater photography followed by student art shows at their schools. As part of the Walking on Water project, Jennifer also developed the first underwater 360 virtual tour in a Florida cave, which she shares when she visits classrooms after the field trips. The virtual tour puts the invisible and often abstract aquifer in the hands of the next generation, who will soon be tasked with managing our threatened water resources.
About the speaker:
Jennifer Adler is a National Geographic Young Explorer and conservation photographer with a focus on freshwater. She specializes in underwater photography and cave diving, and her current work is focused on reconnecting the next generation of Floridians to the aquifer beneath their feet. She is currently amidst the 4th year of her PhD at the University of Florida where she is blending science, photography, and writing to help Floridians build a new water ethic and better understand their most vital resource.
