Miami Waterkeeper Ambassador Program: My Experience, My Advocacy Project, and My Continued Quest to Help Save South Florida
Miami Waterkeeper is well-known locally as a policy powerhouse and valiant environmental organization doing great work in the community.
Thanks to my good friend, Katie Oswald, who let me know about the Miami Waterkeeper Ambassador Program, I was able to apply and was later accepted into their ambassador program, which is only in its second year!
I started the program back in October 2025, and since then I have visited many new places, met great people, and learned so much.
To complete the program, each ambassador is required to attend 6 out of 12 workshops and create an advocacy project - I share mine later on!
Learn about Miami Waterkeeper, the types of activities I participated in, and how I focused my advocacy project on composting, incineration, and looking toward a zero waste future.
About Miami Waterkeeper
Miami Waterkeeper is a well-known environmental organization in South Florida.
Their mission statement is “we protect South Florida’s waters by advocating for resilient solutions grounded in science, rooted in nature, and driven by community.”
Using policy, community outreach, and research, Miami Waterkeeper provides important testing for things like water quality, as well as educating the public, thus protecting the community.
They are a leading force in highlighting bad policy, holding politicians accountable, and legislating for Florida’s future, which largely means protecting our natural areas and preventing further development.
Although I have a creative career now, my background is in biomedical science and public health.
Policy has long been an interest of mine, as well as the intersection of health, environment, and justice.
After admiring Miami Waterkeeper for a long time, I knew they would be the perfect organization for me to get involved with.
I’m so grateful I did because I got to see a different side of Miami-Dade thanks to the Miami Waterkeeper team.
Workshops + Field Trips
This program was incredibly well-designed with a unique mix of lecture-based workshops and in-the-field opportunities.
The first workshop I was able to attend was the Overtown Walking Tour. This tour was delivered by local guide, Mr. Ivory, who taught us the history of this historically Black neighborhood and just some of the environmental injustices Overtown has faced since its inception.
I highly recommend that tour and supporting Mr. Ivory - visit this page for more information.
After that, I went to the Civic Engagement Workshop, and if you know me at all, you know I wasn’t going to miss that one!
It was a great presentation by one of the folks at Urban Health Partnerships, who gave us actionable steps and language to better communicate with the public.
My favorite activity by far was the Everglades Field Trip.
This was my first time ever slough slogging, which basically just means going on a wet walk, and the water was up to our knees.
We got to visit Everglades National Park and go on two tours with the rangers. It was such a fun day and total sensory experience.
The workshops are typically held at Miami Waterkeeper’s office, but for the Stormwater Workshop, we were able to go on a little walk in Coral Gables to see sustainable infrastructure in action.
If you didn’t know, Giralda Plaza was transformed into a climate-resilient cultural plaza equipped with proper drainage, permeable tiles to prevent flooding that local vendors regularly dealt with, and so much more.
Seeing these green solutions in action really shows how beneficial designing with intention is.
The next field trip I went on was to the Tropical Audubon Society, where we discussed Florida-friendly landscaping and creating backyard habitats for birds and pollinators.
It was a morning spent learning about the history of the society and the different trees on the property.
Later, we spent time removing invasive plants from the property, mostly air potato, which there was SO much of. It was nice to make a visible difference, and rest assured, they have volunteers regularly to help mitigate the invasives.
During the field trip, the host had a raffle drawing for a Tropical Audubon year-long membership, and I won!
Another workshop I couldn’t miss was the Advocacy 101 Workshop, which was held by Greg Hasar from Citizens Climate Lobby.
He made a great argument that we cannot regulate our way into a more sustainable future because regulations only exist within borders, and we need a global solution.
I ended up joining Citizens Climate Lobby, so more on this soon!
Finally, the last workshop of the program was the Nature-Based Solutions Workshop with Dr. Tiffany Troxler, who works at FIU and emphasized the need to use what already naturally exists.
In South Florida, what naturally existed before we developed like crazy were the mangroves.
Mangroves offer so much coastal support, and that’s why there are major efforts to restore these mangrove ecosystems to protect Miami-Dade from increasing storm surge and hurricanes.
These workshops and field trips have broadened my perspective and given me lots of ideas about ways to get more involved in my community and topics to talk about.
This topic wasn’t covered during our program, but if you know me, you know I’m fascinated by waste management systems, so what do you think I created my advocacy project around?
My Advocacy Project
To complete the program, everyone is required to create an advocacy project.
Miami Waterkeeper’s criteria is extremely open, they allow you to take pretty much any topic related to South Florida and present it in any way you see fit.
It could be an event, a workshop, a social media campaign, a cleanup, really whatever, as long as it focuses on a local environmental issue, you’re able to reach at least 10 people, educates your audience about the issue, includes a clear call-to-action so participants know what they can do to help, and the project should leave the participants informed and inspired to take action.
My advocacy project covers the waste management crisis we’re facing in South Florida and the current harmful practices being done to manage our waste.
Did you know Florida is the state with the most active incinerators?
The video focuses on incineration and the detrimental health and environmental effects of burning our trash as a waste management strategy.
Just for a taste: Incineration is 2.7 times as expensive as coal to build and 11 times as expensive to operate and maintain. (Source: EnergyJustice.net)
I also cover the ways South Florida (and anywhere really) can transition from incineration and landfilling to zero waste strategies that would be more cost-effective, and healthier for the local communities and ecosystems.
Ultimately, what I really want is for the residents in South Florida to know how their waste is managed, understand why incineration is so harmful, and help us get involved civically to urge local officials to stop incineration.
Miami-Dade County is looking to start building a new incinerator, and it needs to be stopped.
Palm Beach County is trying to expand its current incinerator and build a new one next to an existing one.
The organization I talk about in the video, and where I got my information from, Earth Justice, is an organization that goes around the country shutting down incinerators.
They have been successful in closing down many incinerators around the country, as well as helping to pass legislation to implement zero waste strategies and even clean air laws. I admire their work tremendously.
