Ed Schroth (photo left), whose hands-on field-and-stream stomping ways have influenced environmental activities in the region for the past 53 years, is one of 5 winners of the 2016 Dominion, PA Environmental Council Western PA Environmental Awards.
Award winners will be honored at a special awards ceremony on May 26 at the Westin Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh.
Schroth, an adjunct instructor of biology at Duquesne University and a leader in community-engaged learning, was selected for this recognition based upon his leadership, effectiveness and impact engaging students with the environment.
A believer in providing students with access to field work that contributes to a better neighborhood and enriches the world, Schroth has shared his passion for biology, water ecology and environmental science with students first in the Quaker Valley School District and, since 1999, at Duquesne.
His students have gained first-hand experience in data collection and measurements while involved in civic work with the Allegheny Land Trust, Little Sewickley Creek Watershed, the Ballpark Urban Farm and other groups.
His coordination of four Duquesne and three high school student trips to China as part of Duquesne’s Exploring The Environments Of China program illustrates his global views and commitment to causes that impact the entire planet.
Schroth has championed service-learning opportunities for biology students, guiding them to put their training to work in coal mine drainage remediation at Wingfield Pines, a once polluted, swampy area that now provides 80 acres of hiking opportunities and wetlands habitat in Upper St. Clair and South Fayette townships.
For more than 30 years, Schroth has collected data on Little Sewickley Creek, which has remained a pristine environmental treasure in western Pennsylvania.
He also received a 2013 Carnegie Science Award Honorable Mention as one of the individuals improving lives through their commitment and contributions in science and technology.
“Ed Schroth has done an amazing job at getting students excited about the environment,” said Dr. John Stolz, director of Duquesne’s Center for Environmental Research and Education. “He is the consummate teacher.”
But Schroth, a resident of Leetsdale, contends that his curious students have become his teachers.
“Teaching is actually learning to walk through life with people who are searching, discovering, exploring and have a deep desire to figure out how they’ve been created for this world,” he said. “Whether we are 18 or 80, we are, indeed, never too old to learn by working in synergy with others.”
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(Photo: Sewickley Patch 2013.)
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