The movers and shakers of UConn’s first-ever Environmental Metanoia and new Environmental Literacy General Education requirement swept the 2017-2018 UConn Environmental Leadership Awards (ELAs). 
Hosted on April, 4th at the UConn Foundation, the 6th biennial award ceremony recognized a variety of prominent environmental achievements led by faculty, staff, students, and external partners. Most notably was the successful student-faculty led push for the establishment of an Environmental Literacy GenEd requirement—which was approved by the University and will be in place for the fall 2019 semester requiring that all students take at least one course with an environmental focus. It also highlighted UConn’s first-ever Metanoia on the Environment, which featured 44 events held throughout the 2018 spring semester. While these initiatives involved dozens of individuals and groups, a handful of standout students and faculty helped lead these charges into fruition. Amongst these include several ELA award winners.
2017 – 2018 ELA Winners
Dr. John (Jack) Clausen
- Winner, Faculty Category
- Professor, Department of Natural Resources & the Environment
- Co-Chair, Metanoia on the Environment
- Co-Chair, Environmental Literacy Workgroup
Dr. David L. Wagner
- Winner, Faculty Category
- Director, Center for Conservation and Biodiversity and Professor, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
- Co-Chair, Metanoia on the Environment
- Co-Chair Environmental Literacy Workgroup
Dr. Carol Atkinson-Palombo
- Winner, Faculty Category
- Associate Professor, Geography & Director, Environmental Studies Program
- Chair, General Education Environmental Literacy Task Force for UConn Senate
- Funding Sub-Committee Chair, Environmental Metanoia
Benjamin Breslau
- Winner, Undergraduate Student Category
Class of 2018, B.S. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology- Student Co-Chair for the Environmental Metanoia
- Student Chair, Environmental Literacy Workgroup and Environmental Metanoia
- SURF Award Recipient
- Undergraduate Researcher in the Rittenhouse Lab
- Office of Sustainability Intern (2015-2018)
- UConn@COP22 Fellow
- VP, ECOalition
- Project Lead, HEEP Signage & Trail Dedication Ceremony
Class of 2018, B.S. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Dr. John Volin
- Special Recognition
- Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
- Founded the Natural Resources Conservation Academy (NRCA), as NRE Department Head
- Instrumental leader and champion among UConn’s senior administrators for the Environmental Metanoia, Environmental Literacy Gen Ed, and creation of the new UConn Institute for the Environment
Georgia Hernandez-Corrales
- Winner, Graduate Student Category
- Class of 2019, M.S. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
- Conducts research on plant physiology and global warming
- Communicates research to rural communities in Costa Rica
- Awarded NSF-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation – Research Fellowships
- Founder of Brenesii – a Social Enterprise, focused on activities that combine science communication and outreach for individuals in marginalized communities
Len Oser
- Winner, Staff Category
- Instrumental in launching EcoCoin program at the Bookstore
- 12,000 bags have been avoided and $600 was raised for various charities
- Host to the annual Eversource Energy Efficiency Outreach Event and LED Desklamp Promotion during Move In/Week of Welcome at the UConn Bookstore
- Expanded to regional campuses in March 2019
EcoHusky Student Group
- Winner, UConn Group Category
- Leads student sustainability engagement & outreach
- Volunteered at Green Game Days, campus clean-ups, HEEP trail clearing, Celebrate Mansfield Festival, and the Hartford Marathon each year
- Hosts campus environmental film screenings
- Oversees Recycling Patrol, Stop the Drop, and plastic film/bags collection initiatives
Quantum Biopower
- Winner, External Group Category
- Partnership with UConn to send all the food waste from the dining halls, diverting thousands of pounds of food each week
- Biogas created by the anaerobic digestion converted to electricity
- Participates in education outreach with the community
Below is the complete list of all individuals and groups who were recognized at the 2017-2018 ELAs:
