2022 Pennsylvania State Envirothon Results

The “Bradford Bees” Envirothon Team, 8th at State Competition.  L-R Stephon Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of the Commission of Agricultural Education Excellence, Advisor Pete Eckstrom, Tim Mulcahy, Tripp Hoover, Amber Eschrich, Mary Bukowski, Steven Williams, Advisor Jan Russell and PA Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding.

Students from the Bradford Area School District placed 8th at the 39th Pennsylvania Envirothon state competition with a score of 479 out of 600 possible. The “Bradford Bees” consisting of Amber Eschrich, Mary Bukowski, Tripp Hoover, Tim Mulcahy and Steven Williams, along with their advisors Jan Russell and Pete Eckstrom participated in the Oral Component portion of the event on May 19th.  Teams submitted their presentations electronically and then answered questions from a panel of judges through a Zoom Meeting. The Station testing was held in-person at Camp Mount Luther on May 25th. High school students from 62 Pennsylvania counties participated in this year’s event.

"As a board, we were so excited to return to an in-person event for the 2022 Pennsylvania Envirothon. The students who participated were not only building their skills in practical resource management fields such as forestry, wildlife conservation, and aquatic biology; but perhaps most importantly, Envirothon students are interacting with agency professionals and exposed to numerous career outcomes.  We are immensely proud of these students' accomplishments and wish them all the best as they kick start their careers and take the lessons learned about conservation and natural resources from the Envirothon with them throughout their lives."  Celina Seftas, PA Envirothon board chair and District Manager for the Huntingdon County Conservation District.

At the Envirothon, five-member teams participated in a series of field station tests that focused on five topic areas – soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and environmental issues. The 2022 current environmental issue focused on “Waste to Resources”. The teams prepared and delivered oral presentations to panels of judges who evaluated each team on its problem-solving capabilities, oral presentation skills, and recommendations to help solve the specific environmental challenge, which related to the current environmental issue.

Teams participating represent the best and the brightest of the thousands of high school teens who have competed in county Envirothon competitions sponsored by Conservation Districts from across the Commonwealth. At the state level, the Envirothon is sponsored by Pennsylvania’s sixty-six county Conservation Districts, the State Conservation Commission, and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts. The program is managed by a board of directors representing those sponsors.

Technical expertise is provided by the following partners: PA Department of Agriculture, PA Department of Environmental Protection, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, PA Game Commission, PA Fish and Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Education, and the U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Sponsors and partners of the 2022 Envirothon include the PA Department of Environmental Protection, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Digital First Sponsor PSECU, Shell Oil Company, PPL Electric Utilities, EQT Foundation, Weis, UGI Utilities, PA Trappers Association, Chesapeake Energy, Seneca Resources, and Pennsylvania American Water.

The 2022 Pennsylvania Envirothon champions from Penncrest High School located in Delaware County, scoring 556.3 points out of 600 possible, earned the honor to represent Pennsylvania at the 33rd NCF-Envirothon competition planned for July 24 – 30th, 2022 at Miami University of Ohio, located in Oxford, Ohio. More than 45 teams from the United States, Canada, and China are expected to compete.

For more information on the Envirothon program, visit the website at www.envirothonpa.org.