FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 27, 2017

Nominations now open for 2016 S.C. Environmental Awareness Award

The State of South Carolina is seeking nominations for an award that recognizes individuals who are doing extraordinary work for the natural environment. Nominations for the South Carolina Environmental Awareness Award will be accepted through January 19, 2018.

The award, established in 1992 by the S.C. General Assembly, recognizes outstanding contributions toward the protection, conservation, and improvement of South Carolina's natural resources.

Each year the public is invited to submit nominations that are then reviewed by an awards committee. In judging nominees, the committee considers excellence in innovation, leadership, and accomplishments that influence positive changes affecting the natural environment.

Members of the awards committee represent the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, S.C. Forestry Commission, and S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.

The 2015 Environmental Awareness Award winner, Mark Madden, was honored for almost 30 years of passionate work in environmental education and natural history interpretation in South Carolina. Mr. Madden is the interpretation and stewardship manager for the Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission in Charleston, S.C.

Nomination guidelines and application forms are available here or by contacting Renee Baecker at baeckerr@dhec.sc.gov or 803-898-4132.

Previous winners of the Environmental Awareness Award include:

• 2015 - Mark Madden, Environmental Educator, Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission
• 2014 - George W. McDaniel, Ph.D., Director of Drayton Hall Plantation
• 2013 - Joseph R. Hamilton, Founder of the Quality Deer Management Association
• 2012 - Thomas Kester, Chairman and Treasurer for the Conestee Foundation
• 2011 - Dr. Patricia J. DeCoursey, Professor of Biological Sciences at USC
• 2010 - Frank S. Holleman, III, President, Naturaland Trust
• 2009 - Dr. Fred Holland, Coastal Ecologist, Charleston
• 2008 - Benjamin Ziegler, Chairman, Pee Dee Land Trust
• 2007 - Dr. Richard Porcher, Jr., Professor Emeritus, The Citadel
• 2006 - Rick Huffman, Founder, South Carolina Native Plant Society
• 2004 - John L. Knott, Jr., President, Noisette Company, North Charleston
• 2003 - Burris Family, Owners, Cypress Bay Plantation Tree Farm, Beaufort
• 2002 - Dr. Jack Turner, Director, Watershed Ecology Center, University of South Carolina
• 2001 - James D. Elliott, Jr., Founder, South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey
• 2000 - Dr. Dave Hargett, Conservationist, Greenville
• 1999 - Kenneth Strickland, Environmentalist, Florence
• 1998 - Yancey A. McLeod, Jr., Environmental Educator, Eastover
• 1997 - Brad Wyche, President, Friends of the Reedy River, Greenville
• 1996 - Beaufort County Clean Water Task Force
• 1995 - Dr. Whitfield Gibbons, Senior Research Ecologist, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
• 1994 - Marion Burnside, Chairman, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
• 1993 - Dana Beach, Executive Director, South Carolina Coastal Conservation League
• 1992 - Rudy Mancke, Naturalist, South Carolina Educational Television

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