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FY’99 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT AWARDS

Release Date: 07/29/99
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1999

FY’99 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANT AWARDS

EPA today announced a total of almost $2.5 million in environmental education grants to over 200 organizations nationwide. EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., awarded over $870,000 to nine winners and EPA’s regional offices awarded the remaining $1.6 million. The environmental education grants program was established to assist schools, universities, not-for-profit organizations, state, local and tribal governments in developing projects that will benefit the environment while educating the public. Since 1992 EPA grant funds have been awarded to almost 2,000 recipients. The Environmental Education Grants Program was established under Section 6 of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990. In making selections, EPA gives priority to projects that address health problems, education reform programs, and outreach and community programs for the public. The nine EPA headquarter’s 1999 Environmental Education Grant winners are from: Martinez, Calif.; Davis, Calif.; Starkville, Miss.; Glassboro, N.J.; New York, N.Y.; Rochester, N.Y.; Newark, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Montpelier, Vt. To obtain information on these projects, contact Tanya Meekins at 202-260-1387. Information on the EPA regional grant winners can be obtained from the appropriate offices listed below. For information on how to apply for environmental education grants, contact the Office of Environmental Education at 202-260-4965 or visit Internet address https://www.epa.gov/enviroed.

Region 1 (New England) Kristen Conroy -- 617-918-1069 Maria Pirie -- 617-918-1068	Region 6 (Southwest) Jo Taylor -- 214-665-2204
Region 2 (Northeast) Terry Ippolito -- 212-637-3671	Region 7 (Great Plains) Rowena Michaels -- 913-551-7003
Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic) Larry Brown 215-814-5527 Nan Ides 215-814-5546	Region 8 (Mountain Plains) Cece Forget -- 303-312-6605
Region 4 (Southeast) Stacey Benfer -- 415-744-1161	Region 9 (West) Rich Nawyn -- 404-562-8320
Region 5 (Midwest) Suzanne Saric -- 312-353-3209	Region 10 (Northwest) Sally Hanft -- 206-553-1207

CALIFORNIA

Contra Costa County Health Services Department - $97,150
Mary Foran, 20 Allen St., Martinez, Calif. 94553

Center for Health Environmental Education Program
The Contra Costa County Health Services Department has won national recognition for innovative programs that solicit the participation of residents in designing and implementing enviro-health improvements. In 1993, a major toxic spill occurred in the area and recently the Center for Health in North Richmond was created to respond to similar situations should they occur. This project trains local enviro-health educators to teach residents to plan and carry out neighborhood environmental action plans. Interactive learning resources provided through a formal Environmental Resource Center teach residents to interpret and disseminate correct environmental information, define community issues, select action strategies and sustain neighborhood education projects. Having been trained, residents will then train their neighbors, who will train others in a continuing process of community enlightenment. Partner organizations include the West County Toxics Coalition, East Bay Regional Parks, the Bucket Brigade and the city of Richmond.

Regents of the University of California - $113,493
Joyce Gustein, 410 Mrak Hall, One Shields Ave., Davis, Calif. 95616

Return of the Salmon
This project addresses uses and diversions of creek water and the resulting ecological effects on the Putah Creek watershed. Middle school students will participate in activities in school and on field trips to explore how salmon can be studied as an indicator of the ecological health of the creek. Teachers will facilitate the youth’s entry into the watershed first through in-school activities and later via field trips. Subsequently, the students will be able to pursue educational activities with their families using a guidebook and website developed through this project. The project also provides teachers in service training and internet development. The project has an advisory committee of university and regional science and education specialists.

MISSISSIPPI

Starkville School District - $91,200
Janet Henderson, 401 Greensboro, Starkville, Miss. 39759

Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge Environment Education Center and Program.
The Starkville School District serves more than 4,000 students across a 100+ square mile area. The school district has established an Environmental Education Center and Program at the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Mississippi State University. This essentially rural program emphasizes sustainable use of diminishing resources, fish and wildlife ecology and the historical significance of natural assets in creating the culture of the South. Students from Mississippi as well as Alabama will benefit from learning on-the-ground, where theories can be tested against empirical reality. Very few such opportunities are available in this countryside. The ultimate target is 69 school districts within a larger 140-mile radius.

NEW JERSEY

Farmworker Health and Safety Institute Inc. - $40,000
Teresa Niedda, 4 South Delsea Dr., Glassboro, N.J. 08028

Farmworker Training and Development Program
The Farm Health and Safety Institute is a consortium of three community-based farmworker organizations that will replicate an innovative curriculum and model training program for farmworkers. The institute has a unique educational program that trains farmworkers to teach their peers and their families about environmental issues such as pesticide safety, runoff, spills, solid waste incineration, and crop dusting and its effect on air quality. The institute has created materials and workshops that teach farmworkers how to: 1) analyze their work and community for environmental hazards (mapping), such as pesticides and unsafe drinking water; 2) train their fellow farmworkers; and 3) evaluate this program and the comprehension of their trainees through follow-up training and community visits. The program also teaches experienced farmworker trainers how to conduct the “Train-the-trainer” workshops which will consist of three separate training sessions totaling over 250 hours of training. Follow-up evaluations will also be conducted throughout the duration of the project to evaluate the process as well as ensure that the methodology, tools and training are being conducted in a consistent manner. Farmworkers will receive training in Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico,Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, and in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. This project may serve as a model for similar programs in other states.



NEW YORK

Seneca Park Zoo Society - $33,470
John Scott Foster, 2222 St. Paul St., Rochester, N.Y. 14621

Amphibian Alert!
A large amount of research over the past decade has documented in some cases, catastrophic extinction of amphibian species or populations around the world. Many of these population declines are associated with non-point source pollution. This project will train informal educators in zoos, museums, nature centers, and classroom teachers around the country to address the topic of declining amphibian populations and provide community members with the problem solving skills. Seneca Park Zoo Society with its partners are developing Amphibian Alert!, a curriculum package for informal educators and classroom teachers. This package will provide a concise summary of the issues leading to declining amphibian population as well as teaching strategies, activities, population assessment tools and audiovisual materials to be used in presenting these issues to school age children across the country. Amphibian Alert! will also be made available to all informal and classroom educators who wish to incorporate this information into their educational activities.

Educational Broadcasting Corporation - $145,500
Caroline Crumpacker, 450 W. 33^rd St., New York, N.Y. 10001

Wild TV
“Wild TV” is a 13-week, half -hour televison series to engage children 8 to 12 years of age in an exploration of nature in the world around them. “Wild TV” takes the students straight to the environs they know best--city streets, suburban ponds, rooftops, parking lots and backyards--to find out what’s actually going on there ecologically. The process will be facilitated by a teachers’ guide, a docents’ guide for outdoor settings, a Web component and workshops for educators. The series will explore community
issues vis-a-vis terrain, air, water, flora and fauna. It will be broadcast in every state in the Fall of the year
2000. Outreach materials will also be disseminated to thousands of young people. The entire series may
ultimately be packaged for dissemination to libraries, community centers, schools and related venues. The National Science Foundation and various nonprofit groups are also funding this project.

OHIO

Environmental Education Council of Ohio - $125,685
Deb Wandala, 397 W. Myrtle Ave., Newark, Ohio 43055

Ohio Infrastructure for Success
This project implements Ohio’s strategic plan for environmental education. The goal is to build capacity in Ohio for environmental education by expanding upon existing collaborative efforts to create both a leadership network and a programmatic infrastructure that will foster long-term grassroots initiatives. This goal will be achieved through six objectives: 1) expand and coordinate leadership by establishing a statewide steering committee and interagency governmental council 2) establish an environmental education center to develop programmatic infrastructure, 3) use marketing strategies to increase awareness about environmental education, 4) develop and adopt guidelines for best practices, 5) establish an environmental education research consortium to coordinate research efforts, and 6) assess the availability of environmental education for preservice and in service educators.

UTAH

National Energy Foundation - $74,000
Christian Scheder, 5225 Wiley Post Way, Suite 170, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116

Living Wise
The National Energy Foundation was created to develop and distribute educational materials to schools and other institutions to teach about the links between energy, water, technology and conservation. The “Living Wise” project, through a partnership of public and private agencies, will reach students and their parents in Denver, Colorado and the surrounding area. The project demonstrates the virtues of ecological management for sustainable living and long-term prosperity. “Living Wise” combines carefully designed classroom instruction and debate with a variety of hands-on projects families can undertake at home. Hands-on experience is highly reinforcing and it elicits new attitudes and behavior, and thus can generate lifelong commitment to responsible stewardship of natural resources. The target group is fifth and sixth grade students. In addition to classroom activities, students will enter contests, use an interactive website, and play a 3-Dimensional CD-ROM game that explores conservation method.

VERMONT

State of Vermont Department of Public Service - $150,000
Tom Franks, 112 State St., Drawer 20 Montpelier, Vt. 05620-2601

Vermont Multi-Agency Environmental Education Project
The Building Education for Sustainable Society (BESS) project will develop place-based environmental education that is fully integrated with traditional academic programs in Vermont. Drawing upon and amplifying a rich array of existing informal initiatives, the project uses the entire state as a classroom and laboratory. Students will learn how natural systems function, and the effect of mankind upon ecosystems. The students will develop the powers of observation and analysis required of responsible citizens in a global environment. As part of this two year program, environmental educators will work with teachers to create a core ecological curriculum that embraces basic concepts in math, science, technology and sustainability.


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