From ticks to turtles, students around Ohio are being recognized for their hard work and successful environmental projects.

Several outstanding projects funded by grants from Ohio’s Environmental Education Fund (OEEF) are being recognized by Ohio EPA. Projects that received grants between 2014 and 2023 were reviewed by the Environmental Education Council of Ohio this spring to evaluate their success.

“One of the most fulfilling things we do at Ohio EPA is investing in Ohio’s teachers and students, as they identify projects that align with Governor DeWine’s goal to protect our natural resources for future generations of Ohioans,” Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel said. “This funding supports Ohio school districts, students, and organizations around the state as they pursue their passion for Ohio’s environment.”

New Philadelphia City Schools, Oberlin College’s Environmental Studies program, and Ohio Wetland Association each had two grant projects identified as “Outstanding.” Highlights of those projects and other outstanding award recipients follow.

New Philadelphia City Schools (two projects) – “New Philadelphia High School Tick Project” ($31,154 grant). This project is an authentic research project in which students collect ticks and analyze the tick DNA for Lyme disease and produce maps of tick and Lyme disease prevalence across the local landscape to share with the community. And “LIFE: Learning in Forest Ecosystems” ($21,305). This project engages 5th and 12th grade students and the public in experiences that improve their understanding of local wildlife, historic land use, and the importance of efforts to restore native forest ecosystems.

  • Oberlin College – Environmental Studies Program (two projects) – “Incorporating Community Voices and Real-time Feedback Displays of Resource Use into Public School Curriculum” ($46,254). The project worked with public schools to install an “environmental dashboard” for real-time feedback on resource consumption, environmental quality, and the positive thoughts and actions of citizens to educate the community to be better environmental stewards. A related second project: “Pilot Integration of Environmental Dashboard in Ohio: Teacher Training and Curriculum Development” ($48,432) expanded the first project and showed how the curriculum has been used in the classroom.
  • Ohio Wetlands Association (two projects) – “Integrating Project WET, Wetlands, and H2Ohio into 7th Grade Curriculum” ($945 and $3,729). The organization used the first grant to integrate cross-curriculum learning involving 14 Project WET units at St. Brigid of Kildare School in Dublin (Franklin County) in spring 2022. It focused on multiple water concerns being addressed in Ohio through H2Ohio including agricultural nutrient reduction and restoration or creation of wetland ecosystems. The second grant expanded the curriculum into five additional schools in Franklin, Lucas, and Putnam counties.
  • Boardman Local School – “School Cafeteria Waste Reduction Stems Community Compost Education” ($15,728). This project at Boardman Glenwood Junior High School both reduced food waste and created compost that was donated to the community. A compost day was held to educate the community and school staff about the benefits of composting.
  • Franklin Park Conservatory – “Green STEM Girls” ($4,299). Franklin Park Conservatory created an after-school program for 35 middle school students from Columbus City Preparatory School for Girls for hands-on learning about botany and applied sciences to teach environmental issues, critical thinking, and creativity to solve real-world problems.
  • Logan County Soil and Water Conservation District – “Exploring Effects of Water Quality in Western Ohio” ($15,009). The project provided resources for 45 school districts in seven west-central Ohio counties for activities focused on water quality in the region, including nutrient loading and blue-green algae concerns in many waterbodies in western Ohio and Lake Erie.
  • Miami County Park District – “Habitat Heroes – Hug the Pollinators!” ($49,791). The two-year program educated students and their communities about the importance of pollinators and the need to create pollinator habitats on school and private properties. Activities involved field trips, naturalist programs, and the arts, including a musical show for a weekend festival.
  • Miami Township/Centerville – “Let’s Get Vertical – Hydroponics” ($2,200). Students at Miami Valley School investigated needs for fresh produce and the demographics of food deserts in Dayton’s East End community. Using hydroponic vertical farming, students work with the Dayton Food Bank and Mission of Mary Farm to implement the best vertical farming practices.
  • Milford Exempted Village School District – “Conservation Career Training through Turtle Telemetry” ($4,514). This Milford Junior High School project had students at junior and senior high schools in multiple local schools locate wild box turtles in the Valley View Foundation’s 190-acre nature preserve and fit them with telemetry devices to monitor and record their movements weekly, analyzing the data in several ways and sharing the results.
  • The Ohio State University – Center for Automotive Research – “Fueling our Future: Introducing 7th Graders to Careers in Clean Energy” ($31,516). A 30-foot hydrogen fuel cell bus was outfitted with a series of hands-on learning experiments introducing seventh grade students in eight counties to photovoltaics, wind, and fuel cell-based energy conversion.
  • The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology – Ohio Resource Center – “Curious KIDSS” ($45,727). The project aims to prepare kindergarten through second grade students for STEM concepts in science introduced in the upper elementary school grades by preparing teachers to be more comfortable introducing science in integrated math and reading lessons and using the natural environment as an extension of the classroom. It is available to all teachers through the Ohio Resource Center and other websites.
  • Clair Superior Development Corp. – “Microgrid Engineers of Tomorrow” ($23,112). The Cuyahoga County project exposes teenagers to environmental sciences and careers in environmental engineering through sustainable community development projects related to the most pressing environmental issues in Ohio’s inner cities. Activities included completing photovoltaic training and hands-on education assembling a real residential capacity electric microgrid with photovoltaic cells.

The OEEF was created by the General Assembly in 1990 to enhance Ohio citizens’ awareness and understanding of environmental issues. It is administered by the director of Ohio EPA and provides approximately $1 million annually in grants to support environmental education efforts within the state. The OEEF is funded from one-half of the civil penalties collected from violations of Ohio’s air and water pollution control regulations. The OEEF funds education projects that target three audiences: (1) the general public; (2) the regulated community; and (3) pre-school through university students and teachers. General grants are available for $5,000 to $50,000, and mini grants for projects costing between $500 and $5,000. Applications for the next grant opportunity are being accepted through July 15.