Vivian Bowles, lifetime achievement award

Vivian Bowles often tells the story of how, when attending her first KAEE conference a decade ago, she knew she had “found her tribe.” Anyone who has been fortunate enough to attend one of her workshops or sit on a board with her knows that Vivian is one of the warmest, most caring, and most enthusiastic educators out there. She motivates others to listen, to watch, to think, to read, and to teach. She found “her people” ten years ago, she says, at a KAEE conference, and at that conference, “her people” gained an EE leader, an EE champion, and an EE all-star. Read more here. 

Anna Wiker, m.k. dickerson award

Anna Wiker, Park Naturalist for the Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, has worked for Lexington Parks and Recreation since 2013, and prior to that was an environmental educator for a 4-H camp through the KY Cooperative Extension service. At Raven Run, Anna’s role is to oversee all aspects of programming; lead environmental and cultural history programs; develop educational displays; provide customer service for park visitors; manage and restore habitat (including invasive/exotic species removal), and more. Read more here.

madeline heredia, rising star award

Maddy Heredia, the first full-time environmental educator in the forty-year history of Kentucky Nature Preserves, in her first year initiated new partnerships with natural areas throughout the state for field trips, oversaw new citizen science projects, expanded the organization's social media presence, developed interpretive signage, and developed KNP's Kentucky Nature Summit, the largest multi-agency EE event in the agency’s history. "Maddy does all this with a smile and positive attitude," says Zeb Weese, Kentucky Nature Preserves' Executive Director, "and is an incredible ambassador for Kentucky's biodiversity and natural areas." Learn more here.

Richardsville Elementary school, outstanding ​prek-12 school

Richardsville Elementary School in Warren County, Kentucky, enables students to learn about energy on a daily basis through features including a "geothermal hallway," a "solar hallway," a "water conservation hallway," an interactive mural explaining how water is used throughout the county, and a "recycling hallway." "At Richardsville Elementary, the administration and the teachers see the school as a building that teaches, and focuses on, sustainability," says retired Western Kentucky University professor Terry Wilson. 

West Kentucky Community and Technical College, outstanding community partner

West Kentucky Community and Technical College is demonstrably committed to environmental education. Education is a major component of the college’s 2020-2025 sustainability plan, and WKCTC and Murray State University recently developed an Earth and Environmental Sciences Sustainability and Environmental Science Pathway for WKCTC students interested in environmental sciences wanting to transfer to MSU. Biology courses and the required First Year Experience course (FYE) modules have environmental learning outcomes. FYE students do career exploration using Story Maps, and stream sampling field work is conducted in ecology lab. Learn more here. 

Service One Credit Union, outstanding business

The headquarters of the Service One Credit Union in Bowling Green is highly energy efficient; a few of the most innovative features of the Campbell Lane Branch include a living “Green Roof System” for added roof insulation, a Bioretention Basin that controls stormwater runoff, reclaimed wood timbers from a historic mill which eliminated the need for a sprinkler system, and the first commercially-installed Nanogel-insulated windows. 

Excellence in ee awards

2019 award winners

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