Congratulations to the 2022 Conservation Award Winners!

2022 Outstanding
Conservation Educator of the Year

Kristina Patterson - Partners for Clean Streams (Perrysburg, OH)

We are excited to present the 2022 Conservation Educator of the Year Award to Kristina Patterson, the Executive Director of Partners for Clean Streams (PCS). Over the years, Kris has been an outstanding partner of the Lucas SWCD and an integral part of the water conservation and stewardship efforts in northwest Ohio. She has been the Executive Director of PCS since shortly after its founding in 2007. 
 
Most recently, Kris partnered with the Lucas SWCD and the University of Toledo — Lake Erie Center on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant project to provide water quality education and training to local teachers. This project also includes hands-on field experience with students while cruising on the Sandpiper Boat. So far, 20 teachers and 124 students have benefited from this project, which will wrap up in Summer 2023.
 
Through her work with PCS, Kris educates the public about water quality and what each individual can do to help towards clean and safe water for everyone. Programs like Clean Your Streams Day, Storm Drain Marking, and Get the Lead Out connect community members to our local waterways and inspire them to become stewards of the environment in their own lives.
 
Kris has a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Policy and Analysis from Bowling Green State University and a Masters in Environmental Science from Miami University of Ohio. She is also a member of the Rain Garden Initiative and facilitates the Maumee Area of Concern Advisory Committee (MAAC) which is a committee made up of representatives from various organizations, citizens, businesses, and non-government agencies to build long-term solutions to the area’s water quality issues by addressing Beneficial Use Impairments.

2022 Cooperator of the Year

Joe & Doug Box
(Providence Township)

Brother's Doug and Joe Box work together to manage over 750 acres of individual and family farmland.  For the past 3 years, they have participated in the eField Program assisting with field level agricultural research done by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.  Doug & Joe were among the first to sign up for the H2Ohio Phosphorus Reduction Program in 2020 and have been steadfast participants in the program ever since.

2022 CREP Award

Bill & Cynthia Wauford
(Jerusalem Township)​

The Waufords live on a picturesque property in Jerusalem Township, where Crane Creek, a tributary of Lake Erie, runs through it. They have enrolled approx. 30 acres in the Lake Erie CREP and H2Ohio Wetlands program, as well as installed filter strips and windbreaks. Sandhill Cranes, Wood Ducks, Bald Eagles, and many species of water fowl as well as River Otters and American Beavers can be seen benefiting from the habitat they have established and preserved.