398 MTSU WaterWorks! Earns Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award

Release date: June 6, 2007


Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Center for Environmental Education contact: Karen Hargrove, 615-898-2660



MTSU WaterWorks! Earns Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award


(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU has been selected as winner of the 2007 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award in the Green Schools Higher Education Category.
The award announcement came from Jim Fyke, commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. It will be presented Friday, June 8, during the Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards ceremony. It will be held in the Ed Jones Auditorium at the Ellington Agricultural Center in Nashville.
“This was our most competitive awards program ever,” Fyke said. “Both the number and quality of nominations created a challenging evaluation and selection process for the judges.”
Paula Lawson, used oil program coordinator for TDEC, nominated MTSU and the Center for Environmental Education for its WaterWorks! program.
“This honor is a direct result of the outstanding work and high visibility of WaterWorks!” said Dr. Cindi Smith-Walters, professor in biology and co-director of the Center for Environmental Education.
According to the center’s Web site, WaterWorks! is a statewide public education and outreach program to promote clean water in Tennessee. Funded in part by the Department of Agriculture Nonpoint Source Program and by TDEC’s used oil program, WaterWorks! promotes individual responsibility through “easy-to-learn and do” habits.
“The success of the WaterWorks! program,” said Karen Hargrove, Waterworks! coordinator, “is due to excellent teamwork from Environmental Education Center administration and staff, the creative efforts of the Bill Hudson Agency, strong support and funding from MTSU, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the many stormwater programs and watershed groups who have partnered with WaterWorks! We are grateful to them all.”

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