Page 14 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 3 - 2024

[12] The Port of Baltimore ■ ISSUE 3 / 2024
EcoPort Environmental Management at the Port of Baltimore
Trash Wheel Family 1
Breaks Record
Data collected by the Waterfront Partnership Healthy Harbor Initiative in 2023 shows the Baltimore Trash Wheels are hard at work. The combined collection totals of Captain Trash Wheel, Mr. Trash Wheel, Professor Trash Wheel and the newest, Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West, showed a record-breaking total of 1 million pounds of trash and debris removed from Baltimore’s waterways.
Maryland Environmental Service’s Environmental Specialist Matias Orrego credits some of the increase to significant rain events, which propel more trash and litter into the water. He noted that the Dundalk Marine Terminal Trash Interceptor collection totals also increased.
According to the Waterfront Partnership, the four trash wheels have seen a 72% reduction in plastic bags and a 90% reduction in foam containers collected since Baltimore’s ban on these products took effect.
Orrego said the impact of community cleanups is significant. “Overall, from just the volunteer events that we’ve had in 2023, almost 4,340 pounds of trash were collected, and 745 people were engaged as volunteers or service members.” 
MILLION
POUNDS
TRASH & DEBRIS REMOVED FROM BALTIMORE WATERWAYS
PHOTO BYTIM CARNEY / MES
WildSTEM Internships
Spark Conservation Careers
For U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Urban Wildlife Biologist Ela-Sita Carpenter, Ph.D., one of the highlights of her job is seeing potential careers in conservation take flight through the WildSTEM Internship, formerly called the Urban Conservation and Education Internship (UCEI). Through WildSTEM, partners select students for the program from both environmental and non-related majors. For example, a business major may be introduced to a career in conservation at a sustainable investment firm like Brown Advisory, which has an office in Baltimore. Through a partnership with Harbor City Links, interns are recruited from local Historically Black Colleges and Universities such as Coppin State University, Bowie State University and
Morgan State University. In 2022, Bowie State
University biology student Muhannad Alghamdi, who had met Dr. Carpenter when she spoke to his field biology class, participated in a six-week internship at Masonville Cove.
Fast forward to 2024, and Alghamdi is a zoologist at a nature reserve in Saudi Arabia, crediting his career choice to his internship experience. “Working as an intern...opened my eyes to different fields within environmental science,” said Alghamdi. “It helped me have a deeper understanding of the environment and guided me to find my path through all the people I met through the internship. I met a lot of experts
A A l l g g h h a a m m d d i i s s t t a a n n d d s s s s e e c c o o n n d d f f r r o o m m t t h h e e l l l e e f f f t t t w w i i i t t t h h h the other 2022 UCEI interns.
working in urban conservation, and all of them had amazing insights into the work and nature. That made me search more about majors in the environment field, and I found zoology.”
Alghamdi remains in touch with Dr. Carpenter, recently connecting with her to seek advice on trail cameras and community engagement.
PHOTO BY ELA-SITA CARPENTER / USFWS