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Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop was on the river last week, taking college students on a tour of a wild place along the Neuse.

The Catawba College students are part of the annual “Advocacy Bootcamp” program, sponsored by Waterkeeper Alliance. The weeklong program focuses on environmental issues and advocacy in eastern North Carolina, and gives students the opportunity to experience those issues firsthand, on the water.

This year, Samantha joined the group for a kayak/canoe paddle on Turkey Quarter Creek, an oxbow off the Neuse River near New Bern.

“This is classic bottomland hardwood forest, floodplain forest. There’s lots of huge cypress and you can paddle up into the maze of trees,” Samantha said. “Fish jumping; lots of birds. It’s a spectacular setting.”

Samantha used the spectacular setting as a backdrop to talking about what makes the Neuse River special and her work as a Riverkeeper to protect it.

“Whenever I speak to college students, I always encourage them to get into this work; to explore the pathways to becoming a Riverkeeper and getting involved in water quality,” Samantha said.

Also along for the ride was a support boat piloted by a fishing charter captain, who talked to students about the changes he’s seen on the Neuse and the role that both commercial and recreational fishing has on the depletion of fish populations.

“It was a really great outing, in a beautiful setting,” Samantha said. “I know talking about threats to the environment when you’re immersed in the beauty of had to have made an impression.”

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