LOVELAND – Students from Houston, Anna and Russia high schools participated in the Area IV (southwest Ohio regional) Envirothon on April 25 at Camp Friedlander in Loveland. Envirothon is an outdoor, academic environmental competition for high school students.

The Envirothon program started in 1979 to encourage high school students to become interested in natural resource conservation, environmental issues, and careers. At the time, it was named the “Environmental Olympics,” then shortened to “Enviro-Olympics,” and eventually to Envirothon. In 1988 the National Envirothon was born with competing teams from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Massachusetts.

Today, all 50 states have Envirothon programs and the National Envirothon also includes teams from Canada and China. Each year over 25,000 high school students worldwide participate; since inception, hundreds of thousands of students have participated. Many Envirothon alumni go on to have careers as forest rangers, climate scientists, biologists, conservationists, soil scientists, environmental educators, and more.

The event tests students’ knowledge of aquatic ecology, forestry, soil and land use, wildlife, and a current environmental issue (CEI). This year’s CEI topic was “Adapting to a Changing Climate.”

Houston High School Team 1 finished highest among Shelby County schools at the event, hosted by the Clermont Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) and Warren County SWCD. They placed 11th out of 45 teams. Teams from West Jefferson High School, Centerville High School and Milton-Union High School advanced to the State Envirothon competition.

For more information about Envirothon contact Amanda Hurley, education and outreach coordinator at Shelby SWCD ([email protected] or 937-492-6520 x2597) or visit envirothon.org and areaivenvirothon.org.