Faculty and staff members of public, private, and alternative schools in Richland County are eligible to apply for up to $500 in funding to support campus conservation projects and youth environmental education initiatives through Conservation Education Mini-Grants and Clean Stream Columbia Awards.

Student teams from Keenan High School and Spring Hill High School represented Richland County in the 20th Annual SC Envirothon, an environmental quiz bowl co-sponsored by the Richland SWCD and held at the Sandhill Research and Education Center in Columbia. 

Richland County employee Chanda Cooper has been named the 2016 South Carolina Project Learning Tree Jerry L. Shrum Outstanding Educator of the Year award by the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

Seventeen students and three schools will receive awards in this year’s Conservation Poster Contest sponsored by Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). Student posters addressed the topic “We All Need Trees,” raising awareness about the importance of trees to people, wildlife, the environment, and the economy.

Kristin Ziegler, Lead Teacher of the School of Zoological and Botanical Studies at Longleaf Middle School, has been named Richland County Conservation Teacher of the Year by the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).