North Carolina Student Receives President’s Environmental Youth Award

Congratulations to Sharon Chen from Durham on receiving the President’s Environmental Youth Award!

Today, the White House Council on Environmental Quality together with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the winners and honorable mentions of the annual President’s Environmental Youth Awards (PEYA) and Presidential Innovation Awards for Environmental Educators (PIAEE). Sharon Chen, a junior from Durham, N.C., was among the 44 students and 27 teachers from across the country who were honored during a ceremony at the White House for outstanding contributions to environmental education and stewardship.

“To solve our future environmental challenges, young people need to understand the science behind the natural world—and create a personal connection to the outdoors,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “These teachers and students are demonstrating the important role of environmental education, and showing how individual actions can help address climate change, protect the air we breathe, and safeguard the water we drink.”

Chen was the recipient of a PEYA award for her project, “A Green and Novel Technology for Recovering Copper and Wood from Treated Wood Waste—Part 1.” The PEYA awards celebrate student leadership in service projects to protect the environment and build a livable, sustainable global community. The technology Chen developed has the potential to save millions of tons of wood and copper from the landfill—protecting the environment, saving natural resources, and benefitting generations to come. Chen, now a junior at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, completed the project while she was a sophomore at North Mecklenburg High School.

From the EPA press release. Go here for the full press release and to read

more about Chen’s project and about all the recipients visit EPA’s website