News
Apr 21 2010
Resident get cash for flood input
30 from Easton will get $30 for discussing museum with Nurture Nature Foundation
About 30 people will pick up $30 each in Easton today just for talking about floods and a planned museum in the city.
Tonight's forum at the Easton Area Public Library is the last in a series of gatherings organized by the Nurture Nature Foundation, which has been working since 2007 to build a flood museum in Easton's former Veterans of Foreign Wars building.
''We're hoping to have enough in place within the next year to have our doors open, to have people start doing guided tours,'' said Rachel Hogan Carr, director of environmental outreach.
In the meantime, the group scheduled the forums -- including one Sunday at the Grand Eastonian Suites Hotel and one Tuesday at the Allentown Public Library -- to help shape the museum's exhibits and find out what residents want officials to do about floods.
Rather than community meetings, organizers characterize the gatherings as ''focus groups'' and part of a research project with the National Science Foundation, said Kate Brandes, an environmental scientist with Nurture Nature.
''We're doing research, and we want to pay people for their participation in that research,'' Brandes said, noting that a few participants have refused the $30.
''People are generally coming because they've been flooded or they've personally experienced a flood,'' she said.
In an earlier series of forums in Lower Mount Bethel Township, ''people said they would have come regardless of the payment.''
The study, including the money for participants, is funded through a $75,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. One of its goals is to bring together scientists and residents to talk about public policy, and then find out how effective those meetings are, Carr said.
A dozen people attended Sunday's meeting, and a forum scheduled for Monday in Allentown was cancelled because of low interest. But 20 people signed up for Tuesday's meeting, and tonight's expected crowd of 30 is as big as the organizers can handle, Brandes said.
While renovations continue on the historic VFW building, Nurture Nature is also working on a flood safety and awareness campaign that's to include radio shows and public service announcements, Carr said. The campaign is funded by a $250,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is also to help pay for exhibits at the flood museum.
Though registration for tonight's meeting is full, anyone who wants to learn more can call 610-253-4432 or go to http://www.nurturenaturecenter.org.
Tonight's forum at the Easton Area Public Library is the last in a series of gatherings organized by the Nurture Nature Foundation, which has been working since 2007 to build a flood museum in Easton's former Veterans of Foreign Wars building.
''We're hoping to have enough in place within the next year to have our doors open, to have people start doing guided tours,'' said Rachel Hogan Carr, director of environmental outreach.
In the meantime, the group scheduled the forums -- including one Sunday at the Grand Eastonian Suites Hotel and one Tuesday at the Allentown Public Library -- to help shape the museum's exhibits and find out what residents want officials to do about floods.
Rather than community meetings, organizers characterize the gatherings as ''focus groups'' and part of a research project with the National Science Foundation, said Kate Brandes, an environmental scientist with Nurture Nature.
''We're doing research, and we want to pay people for their participation in that research,'' Brandes said, noting that a few participants have refused the $30.
''People are generally coming because they've been flooded or they've personally experienced a flood,'' she said.
In an earlier series of forums in Lower Mount Bethel Township, ''people said they would have come regardless of the payment.''
The study, including the money for participants, is funded through a $75,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. One of its goals is to bring together scientists and residents to talk about public policy, and then find out how effective those meetings are, Carr said.
A dozen people attended Sunday's meeting, and a forum scheduled for Monday in Allentown was cancelled because of low interest. But 20 people signed up for Tuesday's meeting, and tonight's expected crowd of 30 is as big as the organizers can handle, Brandes said.
While renovations continue on the historic VFW building, Nurture Nature is also working on a flood safety and awareness campaign that's to include radio shows and public service announcements, Carr said. The campaign is funded by a $250,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is also to help pay for exhibits at the flood museum.
Though registration for tonight's meeting is full, anyone who wants to learn more can call 610-253-4432 or go to http://www.nurturenaturecenter.org.
