EPA Celebrates the 2023 Winners of the Presidential Environmental Youth and Educator Awards in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina
ATLANTA (April 26, 2023) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), announced the 2023 recipients of the Presidential Innovation Awards for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) and the President’s Environmental Youth Awards (PEYA). This year’s winners from the Southeast include Kelly Dillman (PIAEE) of Jacksonville, N.C.; Katherine Nicole Torres Haragutchi (PEYA) from St. Augustine, Florida; and Roman Kenneth Phillips (PEYA) from Fort Mill, South Carolina.
“We are thrilled to honor the crucial work that students and teachers are doing in every corner of our nation,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Our awardees represent bold and dedicated leaders who are ready to tackle the biggest climate challenges, and we are so grateful for their commitment to environmental education. Congratulations to all the award winners – we can’t wait to see what you do next.”
“Environmental stewardship begins in the classroom through the passion and creativity of educators and young leaders who are dedicated to achieving a healthy, prosperous, and more equitable future,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. “From climate change to environmental injustice, this year’s award winners are tackling our planet’s most pressing environmental challenges.”
“The PIAEE awards to teachers and PEYA awards to students promote environmental awareness and action in schools and communities,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “We are proud of the remarkable youth and educators being recognized for their work to make a difference in the Southeast.”
The PIAEE were established by the 1990 National Environmental Education Act and seeks to recognize, support, and bring public attention to the outstanding environmental projects performed by teachers who go beyond textbook instruction to incorporate methods and materials that utilize creative experiences and enrich student learning in K-12 education. CEQ, in partnership with EPA, administers these awards.
PIAEE award recipient Kelly Dillman is a STEM coach for the Onslow County Schools in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and leads the laboratories in every middle school in the system. She understands her responsibility to inspire the next generation of STEM researchers, so she crafts her projects with creative engagement while discussing relevant, real-world environmental problems. Dillman’s interactive projects have spanned ocean floor mapping, soil quality analysis, solar energy efficiency and acid precipitation. Her investigative style uses open-ended questions—which encourage discussion and critical thinking—and experimental simulations that mimic scientific activity in the field. These projects give students a sense of ownership over their ideas and accomplishments, spurring them further to carve their own corner in the scientific world. Dillman also brings science outside the classroom by helping organize district-wide science competitions and fairs. Most recently, she supported the North Carolina STEM Research Academy and a Robotics Expo for students.
The PEYA were established by the Environmental Education Act of 1970 and recognizes outstanding community-level environmental projects by K-12 youth. Each year, PEYA honors a variety of local projects developed by students, school classes, summer camp attendees and youth organizations to promote engagement in environmental stewardship and protection.
This year’s K-5th grade PEYA award recipient Katherine Nicole Torres Haragutchi from St. Augustine, Florida, created the Extinction Club at her Timberlin Creek Elementary School with the objective of raising awareness of endangered species. Taking specific interest in the Araucaria angustifolia, a native brazillian tree classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. She raised funds, contacted the Environment Secretary of Cascavel City, Brazil and defined several locations where the Araucaria angustifolia would be planted with focus on municipal parks to raise even more awareness and get participation from the local community. She worked to plant Araucaria angustifolia in a total of nine locations and raised awareness on local TV, radio, newspaper and online news.
After installing wood duck boxes as part of his Eagle Scout project, this year’s 6th-12th grade PEYA award recipient Roman Kenneth Phillips from Fort Mill, South Carolina, often visited Lake Elliot to watch the ducks but the trash that had accumulated was quite an eyesore. After realizing that the lake’s adjacent stream eventually flows into the Catawba River—the area’s main source of drinking water—he decided to take matters into his own hands and launch a cleanup initiative. Since then, and with the help of some friends, Phillips recruited volunteers from the Eagle Scouts, the Alpha Soccer Academy, the South Carolina School of the Deaf and Blind, and other organizations to clean up over 16,000 pounds of waste in the Lake Elliot area. Phillips’s effort had a ripple effect throughout his community. The Environmental Toxicology Lab at Clemson University, for example, worked with him to collect soil and water samples for and analysis of microplastics. Phillips hopes this research will lead to cleaner streams, not only in his community but across the nation as well.
To read about the winning projects in detail, visit: https://www.epa.gov/education/presidential-innovation-award-environmental-educators-piaee-winners and https://www.epa.gov/education/presidents-environmental-youth-award-peya-winners.