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2016 Meigs Award Honors Carole Williams-Green October 20, 2016

PHILADELPHIA � On November 17 the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education will honor Carole Williams-Green, the dynamic founder and president of the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center in West Philadelphia, with the Meigs Award for Environmental Leadership. The award is given annually to a regional leader who embodies the spirit and leadership of Henry Meigs, one of the Schuylkill Center�s founders. Past winners include Governor Ed Rendell, then-Deputy Mayor Mike DiBerardinis, and Morris Arboretum botanist Dr. Ann Fowler Rhoads.

Williams-Green has made a substantial contribution to environmental education in the Philadelphia region, reaching communities often excluded from traditional environmental education. She explains that �it bothered [her] that children from West Philadelphia had to travel so far to get these kinds of experiences [in nature], ones that really excited children.�

A former public school teacher and administrator, Williams-Green led a successful multi-decade effort to rehabilitate the historic Fairmount Park Police stables in Fairmount Park�s Cobbs Creek, creating an environmental education center. Founded in 1991, the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center opened its doors in 2001. This year, they celebrate 15 years of environmental education in West Philadelphia. Binney Meigs, who along with his fellow board members established, explains that this kind of nature-based science education in the city was deeply important to his farther, who he notes �saw urban environmental education centers as a remedy to what he saw as a potential distance between urban communities and nature.�

Today, the Cobbs Creek center trains Junior Docents who take leadership roles educating their community about the park. The site includes urban demonstration gardens, amphitheater, restored habitats like meadow and wetland, and Cobbs Creek itself flows just steps from the front door and is the beneficiary of monitoring and restoration projects. The Schuylkill Center is particularly excited to honor Williams-Green with the award this year; Executive Director Mike Weilbacher explains, �as a center based in a city, we�ve long recognized the disparity in neighborhood access to environmental education. Carole�s work at Cobbs Creek has opened nature�s doors to thousands of city residents.�

Following the award presentation on November 17 Williams-Green will give remarks and then join a panel discussion for a town hall meeting on environmental education and under-served audiences. This panel will also include Lamar Gore, Manager of the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum; Tarsha Scovens, the co-founder of Let�s Go Outdoors; Jerome Shabazz, Executive Director of the Overbrook Art and Environmental Center; and Karen Young, Executive Director of Fairmount Water Works, who will moderate the panel discussion.

About the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
The Schuylkill Center was founded in 1965 as the nation�s first urban environmental education center. Its 365-acres of fields and forests serve as a living laboratory to foster appreciation, deepen understanding, and encourage stewardship of the environment. Reaching over 36,000 Philadelphia-area residents each year, the Schuylkill Center offers a diverse collection of educational programs, including programs for school, continuing education for teachers, Pennsylvania�s first Nature Preschool, and a full calendar of events for the public. For more information: www.schuylkillcenter.org.