Massachusetts Envirothon 2016

The Massachusetts Envirothon is a statewide environmental education program for high school age young people and their advisors. It’s also a network of environmental professionals and concerned citizens. Teams prepare throughout the school year, attending workshops and conducting research. Then, at the outdoor field competition event in May, they rotate through four “ecostations” where they answer written questions and engage in hands-on activities such as soil analysis, wildlife habitat assessment, tree identification, and water quality measures. Each team may have up to 10 participants and split into specialized sub-teams during the competition, each focusing their efforts at different ecostations. At the fifth station, the Current Issue, each team gives a 15 minute presentation on the issue to a panel of judges. Teams research the Current Issue in their own community in preparation for their presentation.  Each panel of judges includes concerned citizens and environmental professionals from government agencies, non-profit organizations, academia and private industry. The 2016 Issue is Invasive Species.