On November 20, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the Kids in Nature program based at UC Santa Barbara and the NRS’s Sedgwick Reserve had won the 2007 Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for Children’s Environmental Education.

The award is California’s highest and most prestigious environmental honor, recognizing individuals, organizations, and businesses that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in conserving California’s resources, protecting and enhancing the environment, and building public/private partnerships.

Now in its seventh year, Kids in Nature has served over 1,300 fifth-grade public-school students in Santa Barbara County, providing an innovative program that enriches the learning experiences of underrepresented and underserved youth. Kids in Nature activities focus on environmental science, botany, ecology, and habitat restoration. The year-long curriculum combines hands-on, place-based, classroom activities, interactive custom-designed computer simulations, and field trips to the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration at UC Santa Barbara, the Sedgwick Reserve, and the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, which is managed by the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County.  

“Kids in Nature provides students in our community with opportunities to observe, engage in, and understand the importance of programs that preserve our ecosystems,” says program director Dr. Jennifer Thorsch. “We strive to help develop an educated population that is able to make informed decisions about the future of our environment and the animal and plant species who inhabit it.”

“I am delighted that the Kids in Nature program has received the 2007 Governor's award,” Thorsch adds. “This honor is a milestone in the evolution of the program. Our approach of providing hands-on science education has increased student interest in science, improved student test scores, and provided role models for young girls and boys.”

The Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards program was established in 1993, and is administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Resources Agency, in collaboration with the State and Consumer Services Agency, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency.

For more information about Kids in Nature, go to:

http://ccber.lifesci.ucsb.edu/education/kin/.

For more information about environmental education programs at UC Natural Reserve System sites, visit:

http://nrs.ucop.edu/K-12_brochure/NRS.html.

For more information about the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards and this year's award recipients, visit the Cal/EPA Web site:

www.calepa.ca.gov/Awards/GEELA/

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