March 20, 2024 - The National Conservation Foundation (NCF) and NCF-Envirothon are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 cycle of Diversity Enhancement and Underserved Audience Grant (Diversity Grant) Program awards: Connecticut Envirothon, Maine Envirothon, New York State Envirothon, South Carolina Envirothon, Washington State Envirothon, and Envirothon New Brunswick.

Sponsored by NCF and the USDA Forest Service (USDA FS), the Diversity Grant Program provides mini-grants to U.S. state and Canadian provincial Envirothon programs with the goals of increasing equity and inclusion in student access to and participation in Envirothon and its five areas of study: forestry, soils and land use, aquatic ecology, wildlife, and current environmental issues. Recognizing that historically underserved communities may face additional barriers to participation, NCF has been partnering with USDA FS for several years to support the ongoing Diversity Grant Program initiative. This grant program facilitates educational exploration, educates young adults on the importance of conservation, and encourages students to take action in their local communities.

The 2024 awards will support the following Diversity Grant projects:

• Connecticut Envirothon’s “Enhancing Access to Connecticut Envirothon for School Programs through Hands-On Learning Kits” project centers around the creation of hands-on learning kits for schools across Connecticut. These kits will feature materials from each Envirothon area of study and will be loaned out to targeted schools/teams by each Conservation Districts, connecting new schools and advisors with staff at their local Conservation District.
• Maine Envirothon’s “Expanding Maine Envirothon” project aims to grow the Maine State Envirothon program through support, training, and educational tools for advisors and students. Outreach will also be provided to students about career opportunities in the fields of natural resource management and STEM.
• New York State Envirothon’s project, “Enhancement of Sensory Learning Capabilities within Warren County”, partners with the Warren Conservation District to provide educational materials for Envirothon students attending the Prospect Child and Family Center, a local school for individuals with disabilities. Since 2022, the district has partnered with the Prospect Center to provide environmental education opportunities to students who have learning differences, and this project will enable their inclusion in Envirothon.
• South Carolina Envirothon’s “Hands-On Learning for High Schoolers in Underserved Soil and Water Conservation Districts” project will focus on five South Carolina Soil and Water Conservation Districts in rural areas of the state that have limited access to environmental education resources. The project funds will be used for supplies for hands-on learning events for high school students, promotional materials for the district to utilize for promoting the SC Envirothon program, and registration fees for one team from each targeted district to attend the state Envirothon competition.
• Washington State Envirothon’s “Envirothon for All” project aims to increase access to Envirothon competitions across the state by addressing two obstacles to student participation: transportation constraints and limited access to study resources. Grant funds will provide travel stipends to regional and state Envirothon events, as well as be used to create resource study bins with educational resources for schools that serve rural, low-income, and BIPOC communities.

The above U.S. state Envirothon programs will receive up to $4,000 in support from the USDA FS. To assist Canadian-based Envirothon programs, NCF sponsors up to $2,000 for Diversity Grant projects in Canada. The 2024 Canadian Diversity Grant project winner is:

• The Envirothon New Brunswick project, “EnviroVerse Activities,” will be an outreach initiative dedicated to expanding environmental education opportunities for students across the Canadian province of New Brunswick, particularly among rural areas. Through a series of hands-on workshops, field days, and interactive presentations, EnviroVerse aims to foster a connection between youth and their surrounding natural environment in areas and schools that lack access to educational opportunities.

Visit the NCF-Envirothon’s Diversity Grant webpage to learn more about this long-running initiative.