The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has awarded $304,137 in environmental education grants to 110 schools, universities, non-profit organizations, and conservation districts across Pennsylvania.
“Funding environmental education projects, like these, is an important function of government that works,” Acting DEP Secretary John Quigley said. “I am pleased that we can support these initiatives that not only educate our young people about today’s environmental issues, but also realize tangible environmental benefits.”
Grant recipients will use the funding for various initiatives, including farm field days, summer camps, exploratory learning activities, professional development, and explanatory signage along watersheds. Through these initiatives, students, teachers, farmers, and others will learn about a variety of environmental issues ranging from pollination, stormwater management and hydroponics in agriculture, to Marcellus Shale and the Chesapeake Bay, among other topics.
The grant program was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1993, which mandates setting aside 5 percent of the pollution fines and penalties DEP collects annually for environmental education in Pennsylvania.
For more information about environmental education, click here; visit www.dep.state.pa.us and click on Environmental Education; or call 717-772-1828.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Grant recipients are listed below with the award amounts, alphabetically by county. Organizations that are marked with an asterisk (*) represent the total of two awards.
Adams
Upper Adams School District – $3,000
Allegheny
Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania – $3,000
Baldwin Whitehall School District – $3,000
The Bradley Center – $3,000
Citizen Power, Inc. – $3,000
Consortium for Public Education – $3,000
Mount Washington Community Development Corporation – $3,000
North Hills School District – $3,000
PA CleanWays of Allegheny County, Inc.* – $6,000
South Allegheny School District – $2,562
South Fayette Conservation Group – $3,000
Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Corporation* – $6,000
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy – $3,000
Berks
Alvernia University – $3,000
Borough of Kutztown – $296
Foundation for the Reading Public Museum – $1,150
The Rodale Institute – $3,000
Blair
Bellwood Antis School District – $3,000
Bucks
Bucks County Conservation District – $3,000
Pennsbury School District / Quarry Hill Elementary – $3,000
Butler
Butler Area School District – $1,560
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania – $2,997
Cambria
Cambria County Conservation District – $3,000
Pennsylvania Highlands Community College – $2,600
Saint Francis University – $2,674
Centre
Borough of State College – $2,328
ClearWater Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. – $3,000
Pennsylvania State University* – $5,599
Chester
Coatesville Area Arts Alliance, Inc. – $895
Green Valleys Association of Southeastern PA, Inc.* – $5,006
The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County* – $6,000
Urban and Rural Science Alliance Inc.* – $5,972
Clearfield
Central Intermediate Unit #10 – $3,000
Curwensville Area School District – $3,000
Crawford
Crawford County Conservation District – $3,000
Cumberland
Carlisle Area School District – $2,996
Cumberland Valley School District – $2,826
Dauphin
Audubon Pennsylvania – $3,000
Dauphin County 4-H Clubs, Inc. – $2,888
Dauphin County Commissioners, Dauphin County Parks and Recreation – $3,000
Halifax Area School District – $3,000
Delaware
Lansdowne Friends School – $3,000
Nicholas Newlin Foundation Newlin Grist Mill – $3,000
Ridley School District – $3,000
Elk
Elk County Conservation District – $3,000
Erie
Environment Erie – $2,960
Erie City School District – $3,000
Gannon University – $2,687
Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit #5 – $2,755
The Pennsylvania State University (Behrend Campus) – $2,896
Huntingdon
Tuscarora Intermediate Unit 11 – $2,299
Lackawanna
Michaels Community Services Corp – $2,489
Lancaster
Cocalico School District – $1,651
The Common Wheel – $3,000
Lancaster Farmland Trust – $3,000
Lancaster School District – $3,000
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology – $3,000
Lawrence
Lawrence County Conservation District – $1,000
Lebanon
Lebanon County Commissioners – $2,360
Lebanon Valley College – $3,000
Lehigh
Lehigh County Conservation District – $2,993
PP&L Sustainable Energy Fund – $3,000
Wildlands Conservancy, Inc. – $3,000
Wildlife Information Center, Inc. (Lehigh Gap Nature Center) – $3,000
Luzerne
Wilkes-Barre Area School District – $2,500
Lycoming
Lycoming County Commissioners – $3,000
McKean
McKean County Conservation District – $3,000
Mercer
Jamestown Area School District – $2,900
Mercer County Conservation District – $2,989
Montgomery
Greater Penn Area Transportation Management Association – $2,993
Let’s Go Outdoors LLC – $3,000
National Audubon Society, Inc. – $3,000
The Outdoor School in Horsham – $2,827
Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy – $3,000
Riverbend Environmental Education Center – $3,000
Souderton Area School District – $3,000
Northampton
Nazareth Area School District – $1,500
Nurture Nature Center, Inc. – $3,000
Philadelphia
Friends Select School – $3,000
JASTECH Development Services, Inc. – $2,972
New Foundations Charter School, Inc. – $3,000
Potter
Austin Area School District – $3,000
Potter County Conservation District – $3,000
Schuylkill
Mahanoy Creek Watershed Association – $3,000
Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Inc. – $3,000
Schuylkill Technology Center – $2,997
Snyder
Lower Penns Creek Watershed Association – $2,952
Selinsgrove Area School District – $541
Selinsgrove Borough – $2,890
Snyder County Conservation District – $2,716
Susquehanna
Susquehanna County Conservation District – $3,000
Tioga
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania – $2,993
Union
Pennsylvania Institute for Conservation Education – $3,000
Venango
Venango Conservation District – $2,542
Warren
Warren County School District – $2,973
Washington
McGuffey School District – $2,973
Wayne
Lacawac Sanctuary Foundation, Inc. – $3,000
SEEDS of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Inc. – $3,000
Wayne Conservation District – $1,940
Westmoreland
Eastern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center – $1,500
Saint Vincent College – $3,000
Westmoreland Cleanways – $3,000
Multiple
Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, Inc. – $3,000
Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators – $3,000