2021 Annual Award Winners

Nancy Thompson

EEASC is pleased to recognize long-time SC Project WILD coordinator, Nancy Thompson, for her many decades of service to the students, teachers, and informal educators of South Carolina…first as a school teacher, and then as SC’s Project WILD coordinator.  EEASC member Matt Schnabel shares this wonderful tribute to Nancy: “Nancy Thompson has always been a role model for me and was especially helpful when I began coordinating the Project Learning Tree program. She was always a willing and able partner in EE and I always enjoyed facilitating workshops with her and her husband Ray.  Even more so, Nancy and Ray were fun people to hang out with after the “work” was done.  I hope to have half of the outdoor adventures they got to have in my lifetime!

” Nancy has passed the Project WILD baton to the Sara Green and Sarah Whitmire of the SC Wildlife Federation and Conestee Nature Preserve, but EEASC is forever grateful to her for her dedication to the Project WILD program.

Green Business of the Year - Columbia Natural Awakenings Magazine
In the front of each community issue, this magazine presents global news and views as a complement to news and events of local interest. EEASC is happy that Columbia Natural Awakenings Magazine highlights sustainable education as well local events that support the mission of EEASC. Congratulations to you all and thank you for your continued support of environmental education!

Rising Star Youth Award - Roman Phillips

Roman was nominated by Anna O-Brian and Brandy Carroway. He is a 14 year-old Eagle Scout and rising freshman at Fort Mill High School. He is vigilant in his  pursuit of ways in which his local community can benefit from conscientious recycling, consumption, and preservation.

To promote educational educational literacy in the Baxter Village community in Fort Mill,  Roman started a plastic film recycling effort on January 1, 2020. To date, he has encouraged his neighborhood to recycle 550 lbs of plastic film, which is equal to over 41,000 plastic shopping bags. He has also started a Stream Clean Up in his neighborhood. In 7 workdays, his volunteer group has removed 5000 lbs of trash from storm drains feeding into the Jones Branch which eventually leads to the Catawba  River. As part of his Eagle Scout project, Roman built 8 wood duck boxes and added 4 mallard nesting tubes to Lake Elliott in the Baxter neighborhood. As a result, the ducks have returned to the lake to have  their ducklings. All of these projects can be viewed on Facebook where he updates his neighbors on the  progress of each project: Baxter Ducks, Baxter Plastic Film Recycling, and Baxter Stream Clean Up. Roman's work in his neighborhood helps to keep the water clean and plastic bags out of landfills. We recognize his care for  the environment and tireless efforts to protect our natural resources and look forward to more to come in the future. Congratulations, Roman! 

Outstanding Youth Award - Lydia Cox

Lydia Cox was nominated by Jessica Runyon from the Charleston Museum and is a rising senior at Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston. Lydia has been a volunteer counselor at the Charleston Museum’s Nature Trailers Camp for the past three summers where she has helped staff to educate and engage young Charlestonians with the environment. 

Lydia also came up with the idea to begin a project to document the diversity and distribution of plants and animals at the Dill Sanctuary using the nature app ‘iNaturalist’. She spent many hours over two summers finding, photographing, and identifying almost 200 organisms. The iNaturalist project she created for the Dill Sanctuary will be a great educational tool for future camps, and also a way to share biodiversity information from the sanctuary and to continue to build the Sanctuary's species list over time to better understand biological trends.  

Based on her experience, Lydia has become so proficient with iNaturalist that she is now volunteering with the Charleston Parks Conservancy to develop iNaturalist projects for over twenty City of Charleston Parks where the goal is to involve the public as citizen scientists in documenting the many plants and animals in parks. Lydia was also selected to serve on the 2020-21 City of Charleston’s Youth Mayor’s Commission, where her main issue of concern is the environment.  

We expect Lydia to make contributions to environmental literacy for years to come. Congratulations Lydia!

 Educator of the Year - Will Green

Will Green is a 7th grade science teacher and Certified Green Steps Team Leader at Irmo Middle School. He is the only teacher in Lexington/Richland School District 5 that holds the title of “Greenhouse Commander” from his students. Will has established a Monarch and Milkweed habitat along with his 7th grade students. The awareness in and around the community he has generated by narrowing the focus on one specific species of concern and using that as the impetus for a longitudinal student-driven project is a worthy model for others to follow.

Every spring he collaborates with his 7th grade team to put on an amazing plant sale that his students completely design and organize. He has taken students to Irmo Town Hall meetings to advocate for more controlled spraying of pesticides to protect Monarchs as well as increase the planting of Milkweed in the local area. He and his students have also sold milkweed at the downtown Soda City farmers market. Will has also led professional development events for teachers on how to integrate Monarch and Milkweed education across the curriculum. Congratulations, Will!

Special Recognition to Jane Hiller 

Jane Hiller, Sonoco Recycling Education Coordinator, Green Steps School Program Founder and Director, long-time EEASC Board Member and Central Section Director, and all-around environmental MVP—was  recently named the winner of the 2020 Environmental Awareness Award! The South Carolina General Assembly established the award in 1992 to recognize outstanding contributions made toward the protection, conservation and improvement of South Carolina’s natural resources. Jane will be retiring from her position at Sonoco Recycling later this summer, but she plans to remain active in EEASC during her retirement. Jane, we are so proud of you, and we are celebrating this award with you!