The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control honors young Delawareans each year who have put their passions into projects that benefit our environment. Young Environmentalist of the Year Award winners are honored in a special ceremony at the Delaware State Fair.

The 2024 Young Environmentalists of the Year

Two Delaware students were recognized on Thursday, July 25, 2024, with Young Environmentalists of the Year Awards, presented by Governor John Carney and DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin at the Delaware State Fair. 

DNREC’s Young Environmentalist of the Year Awards program, now in its 31^st year, recognizes Delaware students whose actions have helped protect, restore or enhance our natural resources by initiating an innovative project, practicing environmental stewardship, increasing public awareness or demonstrating environmental ethics.

The 2024 Young Environmentalists of the Year are:

Charli Rose Evans

Charli is from Laurel and is in the 5^th grade at Laurel Elementary School. Her interest in environmentally friendly practices began when she was in kindergarten.

Today, at age 11, she applies self-sustaining farming techniques, growing food for her family and running her own successful small business, Charli’s Chicks Farm Fresh Eggs. Nothing goes to waste – Charli recycles food scraps to feed her chickens, composts food waste and manure to make fertilizer, and grinds eggshells to add calcium to her garden soil.

Charli also shares her commitment to sustainable living with her peers, her community and her social media audience.

Melisa Velasquez

Melisa is from Georgetown. She is 17, years old and in the 12^th grade at Sussex Central High School.

In addition to maintaining a 3.94 GPA at Sussex Central, Melisa has an impressive list of environmental activities. These include wins in the Sussex Preservation Coalition Youth Environmental Film Contest, an individual award for forestry in the Delaware Envirothon, and the ReNEW Essay Contest, a Delaware Interfaith Power & Light program that invites high school students to write about their connection to nature, climate action and environmental justice that took her to Legislative Hall to speak with legislators.

Melisa also raised funds to plant a pollinator garden at Ingrams Pond and for the Nanticoke River Watershed Conservancy, where she stood out among her peers in a six-week work study.

The Awards Program

The Delaware Young Environmentalist of the Year Award was established in 1993 by DNREC staff and interested members of the public.

The award program is open to Delaware students in grades 1 through 12 whose actions have resulted in the protection, restoration or enhancement of our state’s natural resources. Projects must have been completed between July 1 and June 30 for awards the following July.

Teachers, parents, classmates, club or group leaders submit nomination forms and include letters, reports, photos or other documentation of the project.

Winners are chosen in three categories: elementary grades 1 through 4, middle school grades 5 through 8, and high school grades 9 through 12.

For more information, contact Young Environmentalist Awards Coordinator Joanna Wilson, in the DNREC Public Affairs Office, at 302-739-9902.

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