Nature.

"Visuals and Voices," a traveling eco-art exhibit by local students, is currently on display at the Richmond and Pittsburg public libraries. The exhibit, which began last summer and runs through February, showcases 60 pieces of student photography, poetry, tiles, paintings and sculptures from more than 20 middle and high schools from around the Bay Area.

This unique project was the idea of high school students who are members of the Bay Area Earth Team Youth Coalition. Earth Team, a nonprofit that was founded on Earth Day in 2000, is a group of high school teachers, environmental educators and youth leaders who are passionate about nature and the environment.

The Youth Coalition does environmental projects and puts together a monthly newsletter called The Green. The coalition's mission is to be a hub of activity for young Bay Area environmentalists. Coalition members meet once or twice a month, plan events and listen to speakers. In October, more than 100 high school students attended a Student Environmental Leadership Weekend Retreat at Camp Arroyo in Livermore, which included two days of hikes with naturalists, environmental seminars and speakers like Julia Butterfly Hill, founder of the Circle of Life Foundation.

Individual high schools have ongoing projects, too: At College Park High School in Pleasant Hill, for example, students are working to increase their on-campus recycling and restoring the Iron Horse corridor, says Carlos Gonzalez, the Coalition's youth coordinator.

In March, "Visuals and Voices" will head to the Oakland Public Library and continue circulating throughout Bay Area libraries, galleries and community centers. In June, it will be honored at the Oakland Museum on United Nations World Environment Day.

The Times' Life in Perspective board is made up of local high school journalists who write stories, opinion columns and reviews for TimeOut. Aussie Hertz is a senior at Deer Valley High School in Antioch. She can be reached c/o lip@cctimes.com.