Mentor: Ray Lubitz
Student: Ziola Meereiltagh
Ziola Meereiltagh from the Class of 2021 has an internship at South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL), was founded in 1983 to protect the South Yuba River from dams. Through their activism, SYRCL won permanent protections of 39 miles of the South Yuba River under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
Today, SYRCL is the central hub of community activism to protect, restore, and celebrate the Yuba River watershed. With more than 35 years of achievements, 35,000 members and 1300 active volunteers, SYRCL is doing great things for the Yuba watershed. They are working to restore wild salmon to their native waters, restoring Sierra meadows and revitalizing the Lower Yuba River by bringing back native habitat, and inspiring activism across the globe with their environmental film festival.
One of SYRCL’s signature annual event is the Wild And Scenic Film Festival. Working closely with her mentor, Ray Lubitz, Ziola designed and implemented a great deal of the online marketing for the event, as well as helping curate the selections for the Youth Film Festival, an adjunct of the Wild And Scenic event. Right now, Ziola is helping put together an environmentally focused art exhibition that will feature works from high school students all over the county.
To find out more about SYRCL, check out their website here: https://yubariver.org/
And to find out more about the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, check out https://www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org/