Page 36 - December Proof

36 CastlePinesConnection.com
One school trip leads to a lifetime of passion
By Julie Matuszewski; photos courtesy of Brynne Casto and Chris Todd
TALENTED TEENS
OF CASTLE PINES
Assisting the American Academy student trip, Brynne Casto (right) traveled back to Costa Rica in fall 2021 to not only visit the LAST organization but work again alongside the organization with conservation efforts in the mangrove nursery.
In May 2019, Brynne Casto planted mangrove saplings in the Osa Peninsula Costa Rica at the Latin American Sea Turtle South Pacific project. This was Brynne’s first trip to Cota Rica and will not be her last as she has a strong passion for continuing conservation efforts.
video on planet stewardship and the preservation of natural resources for the annual EarthX Planet911 Youth Film Challenge. Her video discussed the deforestation of mangrove forests in the Osa Peninsula and the impacts this could have on the ecosystem as mangrove
forests function as feeding and breeding grounds for organisms like sea turtles.
The mangrove forests also absorb massive amounts of carbon emissions and prevent erosion, reducing the impacts of hurricanes and climate change.
Casto’s video won the LAST organization a $250 impact grant to continue the conservation work already underway.
In addition, Casto completed a summer internship with EarthX, the organization responsible for the Youth Film Fellowship, along with a group of 17 teenagers from 13 countries that were each mentored to create a film or TED-talk-style speech about an environmental issue of their choice.
This fall, Casto had the opportunity with AA to travel back to the Osa Peninsula as a volunteer at LAST to see firsthand the impacts of the winning grant. Sharing her knowledge and using her past experiences with the organization, Casto helped
guide this year’s students through each experience.
Working with marine life and conservation is absolutely Casto’s passion. No matter what path she chooses to follow in school, she will always honor on her love for this field. Casto hopes one day she will design and conduct research like the work being done at the LAST organization in the fields of biology and potentially biotechnology.
Former Castle Pines campus American Academy (AA) student Brynne Casto is now a junior at Rock Canyon High School. She has always shared a deep-rooted love for the ocean and marine life, and her first trip to Costa Rica was organized by AA and was the perfect opportunity for her to explore her passion.
As an avid scuba diver for six years, Casto feels she has a personal connection and devotion to the oceanic wildlife that comes with experiencing the underwater environment first hand.
Casto said she felt a strong connection that has had a lasting impact when she first visited and worked with Latin American Sea Turtles (LAST) South Pacific project on a school trip with AA.
Working with LAST, Casto saw that the project had a dual focus on sea turtles and mangrove restoration. LAST monitors current populations of sea turtles along the Osa Peninsula but also supports a mangrove reforestation nursery where volunteers plant and help restore the natural forests.
The project gave Casto a genuine firsthand experience working with animals and field research. According to Casto, gathering propagates and planting plots of mangrove trees with her own hands was far more educational and impactful than what she had been taught in school. It was this first trip to Costa Rica that inspired Casto to continue conservation efforts on her own.
Casto created and entered a 50-second
December 2021
DO YOU KNOW
A TALENTED TEEN?
Send us an email:
editor@castlepinesconnection.com