The environmental competition requires students to be specialists in aquatics, wildlife, forestry, soils and a current environmental issue – this year’s topic was recreational impact on natural resources. Members of the top 15 teams each received a digital Canon camera. The five-member team earned the trip to Arizona by taking top honors in the Kentucky Envirothon state competition.

“We were so excited to finish in the top fifteen,” faculty adviser and coach Susan Neumann said, “especially being a young team that has only competed for three years.”

The 56 teams were from high schools across the United States and Canada, most much larger than Model Laboratory. Also, the majority of the schools finishing in the top 15 have competed for more than 15 years.

“The students were especially proud of their performances in oral presentation, where they ranked fifth; recreational impact on natural resources, where they tied for fourth place; and aquatics, where they ranked fifth,” Neumann added.

Members of the team were Ib Jadoon, Rebecca Shelton, Caleb Fligor, Mary Ellen Wimberly and Meghann Hart. The students, with the exception of Shelton, who graduated in May, will be seniors at Model this year.

Attendance at the competition was supported by EKU and the Kentucky and Madison County conservation districts. Adrian Nix, Model Laboratory, served as a coach in addition to Neumann. Neumann also credits Dr. Melinda Wilder and Billy Marcum of EKU for their assistance.

Canon U.S.A. has been a sponsor of this annual competition since 1997. The National Association of Conservation Districts in the U.S., the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service are Canon Envirothon partners.

For more information, visit the 2008 competition Web page at www.envirothon.org.