Student work featured in Carson River film festival

Staff Reports

Winners of the Carson River Coalition Education Working Group's Keep Streamsides Greener, Keep Water Cleaner contest are announced at the Carson River Film Festival, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Jan. 28, at the Carson City Sheriff's Building, 911 E. Musser St.

The film festival features videos and slide shows made by 13 Carson and Douglas high school students as they explored the Carson River. A film on stream restoration will be shown. Admission is free.

The students' 1-3 minute videos show why riparian areas are important to protect and what residents can do to help protect them. First place cash prizes of $500 will be awarded to student films in four categories. Winners were selected by a panel of judges.

The contest was open to students in the ninth through 12th grades of Carson and Douglas high schools and Carson Valley and Pau-Wa-Lu middle schools.

View entries at www.youtube.com/channel/CarsonRiver2009

The Carson River Coalition Education Working Group includes the Carson Water Subconservancy District, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and River Wranglers. Prizes will be awarded to the best individual video, team video, individual animated slide show and team animated slide show. Winning entry's sponsoring teacher win $100.

Dr. Susan Donaldson, a water quality expert with cooperative extension and a contest organizer, said the contest gives students an appreciation of how riparian areas provide important wildlife habitat and help keep the river clean by filtering runoff.

"Healthy, diverse riparian areas store water and help reduce floods, filter water and keep it cool and provide a place for recreation," said Donaldson, who takes field trips to the river with certain classes. "They add to our quality of life."

Winning entries showcased at www.cwsd.org and unce.unr.edu/NEMO. The winning presentations will also be featured on a local television show.

Cooperative Extension is the college that extends knowledge from the University of Nevada to local communities to address important issues. Faculty and staff reached hundreds of thousands of Nevada citizens last year with research-based information on agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, health and nutrition, community development and children, youth and families.

Founded in 1874 as Nevada's oldest land-grant university, the University of Nevada, Reno has more than 16,000 students and four campuses and hosts Cooperative Extension education in all Nevada counties. It is ranked as one of the country's top 150 research institutions by the Carnegie Foundation, and is home to America's sixth-largest study abroad program, as well as the state's oldest and largest medical school.

Cooperative Extension is the college that extends knowledge from the University of Nevada to local communities to address important issues. Faculty and staff reached hundreds of thousands of Nevada citizens last year with research-based information on agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, health and nutrition, community development and children, youth and families.

Founded in 1874 as Nevada's oldest land-grant university, the University of Nevada, Reno has more than 16,000 students and four campuses with Cooperative Extension educational programs in all Nevada counties. It is ranked as one of the country's top 150 research institutions by the Carnegie Foundation, and is home to America's sixth-largest study abroad program, as well as the state's oldest and largest medical school.