New York State Envirothon Returns to Campus

Published May 19, 2010 at 4:01 pm in Academic News, Around the Tower by Doug Lippincott.

For the second straight year, Keuka College will host the state-level competition of the Canon Envirothon, one of North America’s largest high school environmental education competitions, June 2-3.

Teams of five high school students, representing most of New York state’s 62 counties (last year 55 counties sent teams to Keuka) will compete for the right to represent the Empire State at the national competition. The Canon Envirothon will be held Aug. 1-6 at Fresno (Calif.) State University, where more than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes will be awarded.

A year ago, Candor High School (Tioga County) won the New York State Envirothon for the fifth straight year and sixth in the past seven.

The Envirothon involves a series of contests starting at the local level. In New York, Soil and Water Conservation Districts across the state work with schools to hold a county or regional event, with the winners advancing to Keuka College for the state competition.

During the Envirothon, teams compete to solve environmental problems in five subject areas, including aquatic ecology, forestry, soils/land use, wildlife, and a current issue (“Protection of Groundwater through Urban, Agricultural and Environmental Planning”). Each team is also required to deliver an oral presentation based on the current issue.

In addition to hosting the event, Keuka College will offer $5,000 over four years of attendance ($1,250 annually) to the top five finishers in the New York State Envirothon if they are admitted and elect to attend Keuka College.