2013 Awards | Alberta Emerald Foundation

Education: School or Classroom

Award Recipient

Green School and Kids in the Garden

Emma Gilberston, Deb Greiner, Antonella Bell

Let children get dirty? Run through a meadow? Hold leaches? Snowshoe at -20 degrees? Follow moose tracks through the forest? Yes to all and much more. The 100,000 children who have participated in Devonian Botanic Garden’s Green School and Kids in the Garden programs immerse themselves into the outdoors with either daily or week-long nature experiences called “slow education”. These formative nature experiences, once commonplace for rural kids, are now ...

Finalists

Walking the Green Walk

Brookwood School

Brookwood School, located in Spruce Grove, lives Earth Day every day! Over the last five years they have begun and sustained a multitude of initiatives to reduce their daily contributions to the local landfill. Their activities have become so entrenched in the culture of their school that their “3R” programs are now a matter of course. Five years ago, their school disposed of 15 very large garbage bags each and ...

Student Led Initiatives for Sustainable Education (SLISE)

Aaron Dublenko

The Student Led Initiatives for Sustainable Education (SLISE) program inspires students to engage as responsible citizens in creating a sustainable environment. Based on the United Nations concept of E.S.D. (education for sustainable development), SLISE is a student-led program that fosters a culture in which young citizens become agents of change, creating innovative, sustainable environment projects in a real-world context with visible, measurable, empowering results. The teacher-leader, Aaron Dublenko, uses his ...

TD Learning Naturally Program

The TD Learning Naturally Program is a corporately-sponsored environmental education program for economically disadvantaged students. In 2012, the program brought 4,887 students from 34 schools across Calgary to Fish Creek Provincial Park to participate in curriculum-related fieldtrips. The TD Learning Naturally Program sparks curiosity about science and nature in their participants, supporting youth who do not normally have the opportunity to visit a natural park to have an unforgettable nature-based ...

Emerald Challenge Award: WATER

Award Recipient

Oldman Watershed Council

Shirley Pickering

Shirley Pickering’s leadership on progressive water management and stewardship has no peers in the private, volunteer, or public sectors. She has built community and agency capacity and then crafted strategies that address intractable watershed issues with solutions that last because they meet provincial needs and are based on community consensus and technical competency. Shirley’s accomplishments stand in marked contrast to her deliberate, modest and self-effacing manner. She gives freely of ...

Finalists

Youth Wavemakers Program

Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST)

Youth Wavemakers engages Alberta youth to take action on local and global water issues. Since 2008, this program has reached 20,000 youth and educators, who in turn have raised awareness with another 60,000 people in their communities on water issues. This increased awareness has catalyzed independent action in these communities through youth action projects. From reducing domestic water use to building rainwater storage tanks and retrofitting schools with water saving ...

Government Institution

Award Recipient

Alberta’s Wet Areas Mapping Initiative

Alberta Department of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development

Alberta’s Department of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development actively pursues innovative solutions that balance economic, environmental and social concerns. Stewardship requires particular emphasis be placed on conservation of aquatic habitats and sensitive lands. The problem is traditional mapping of water in Alberta relies upon photo interpretation. But unseen, wet areas, soils that are sensitive to disturbance and small channels remain unknown to resource planners. The Department commenced on what has ...

Finalists

Office of Sustainability, University of Alberta

Higher education plays a key role demonstrating and advancing sustainability in society. To advance the University of Alberta’s performance, the Board of Governors endorsed the campus sustainability initiative in 2008 and creation of the Office of Sustainability. Launched in 2009, the office delivers programs in three focus areas: outreach & engagement, academic teaching & research and facilities & operations. This nomination concentrates on the outreach & engagement focus area which: ...

Legacy Pointe in La Perle Secondary Suites Project

City of Edmonton Corporate Properties Branch

The Legacy Pointe Built Green/Secondary Suite Pilot project demonstrates an innovative and sustainable reuse of a surplus school sites. The project provides valuable neighbourhood infill and density with construction of energy-efficient, BuiltGreen homes containing secondary rental suites. Legacy Pointe is an attainable housing project with new owners eligible for Cornerstone Grants of up to $20,000 providing they agree to rent to persons of median income for five years.

Individual Commitment

Award Recipient

University of Calgary, Biogeoscience Institute Experiential Education Programs

Michael J. Mappin

Since 1988, Mike has worked at the University of Calgary’s Kananaskis Field Station (now called Biogeoscience Institute BGS) where he has pioneered the development, implementation and evaluation of field-based education programs to enhance ecological understanding for students, teachers and educators, policy makers and the general public. Mike has worked tirelessly to create programs for students and teachers ranging from day trips to week long residential field trips. He has taken ...

Dory’s Enviro Work

Dory Rossiter

For more than 20 years, Dory has created and organized events and campaigns to help bring awareness and positive change to many environmental issues. In response to manufacturers using excessive amounts of packaging when marketing products, she organized a national letter-writing campaign generating more than 145,000 letters. She wanted to clean up areas that were polluted with garbage, so she organized and participated in more than 30 area clean-ups. Dory ...

Finalists

Bike to Work Day

Lonny Balbi, Q.C.

Lonny Balbi, Q.C., is an avid cyclist, noted humanitarian and environmental sustainability advocate. It was these three passions that led him to create Calgary’s most recognizable cycling-themed environmental support event – Bike to Work Day. As the founder and inspirational leader of this annual event, Lonny Balbi devotes countless hours of his own time, as well as the resources of Balbi & Company Legal Centre, the law practice he founded ...

Avian Protection Plan

Nikki Heck

Nikki Heck is an example of how one person can make a big difference within a large corporation. For nearly a decade, Nikki has shown environmental leadership and personal dedication by working to protect avian species on AltaLink’s electric system. Prior to Nikki’s work, the impacts resulting from avian–power line interactions were virtually unknown, despite birds causing an estimated 20 per cent of all power outages. Through the implementation of ...

Large Business

Award Recipient

The Nutriboost Program

DMI, Peace River Pulp Division

The Peace River Pulp Division of Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd(DMI) runs a soil amendment program known as NutriBoost. This program involves the land application of biosolids from its treatment process to farm fields supplying farmers with slow-release nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients to boost agricultural productivity and eliminate the need for commercial fertilizers. This program has effectively taken what was once considered a waste and turned it into a beneficial product. On ...

What’s the Green Deal Program

London Drugs Limited

London Drugs is a 100 per cent Canadian-owned retailer with 75 stores. ‘What’s the Green Deal?’ is a program that brings together the organization’s 4 pillars of sustainability; Upstream Buying; Energy & Operations; Customer/Employee Communication and Recycling/Reuse. Through this initiative, they are well on their way to meeting their goal of diverting 95 per cent of their waste from landfills by 2015. London Drugs offers customers in-store recycling that goes ...

Finalists

There are no other finalists in this category.

Not-For-Profit Association

Award Recipient

Preserving our lands; Preserving our Legacy

Edmonton and Area Land Trust

The Edmonton and Area Land Trust EALT is Alberta’s newest conservancy, conserving and stewarding land in the Edmonton region. Land conservation focuses inside a hundred kilometer radius of the city. In city regions, land is expensive, yet in less than five years, they have secured five properties totaling 1,000 acres of healthy ecosystems. This speaks to their capacity, as well as to the generous contributions of the citizens they serve. ...

Road Watch in the Pass

Led by Rob & Loretta Schaufele

Road Watch in the Pass (RW) is a successful “cutting edge” citizen science project located in the Crowsnest Pass (CNP) of southern Alberta that has diligently endeavored to protect the diverse wildlife species in this area of the Rocky Mountains. Highway 3 (HWY 3) has a negative impact on wildlife by restricting their movements, reducing wildlife connectivity and increasing wildlife mortality from wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC’s). Additionally, RW strives to increase ...

Eco-initiatives Program

Calgary Folk Music Festival

For 34 years the Calgary Folk Music Festival (CFMF) has been a cultural beacon bringing together music lovers and makers from all over the world. In 1997, the CFMF began to introduce environmental initiatives aimed at reducing waste, increasing recycling and promoting human-powered travel back and forth from their verdant urban site on Prince’s Island Park. For the last 16 years, these seeds have grown into a governing philosophy for ...

Finalists

Boreal Habitat Conservation Initiative celebrates 10-year partnership

Alberta Conservation Association and Suncor Energy

In 2003, Suncor Energy and Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) formed the Boreal Habitat Conservation Initiative (BHCI) to conserve ecologically significant areas of Alberta’s boreal forest. Since then, with almost $4 million invested, more than 6,570 acres (29 parcels) of natural boreal forest have been protected as a natural space for fish, wildlife, vegetation and Albertans to enjoy. The BHCI began with a pilot project at Winagami Lake in Grande Prairie ...

EcoLiving Events

EcoLiving Events is a volunteer driven, not-for-profit corporation that has educated more than 55,000 people on sustainable products, services and initiatives. The organization has provided a bridge between innovators and the public by presenting hands-on workshops, teaching positive environmental and community changes and promoting organizations making Alberta more environmentally and economically sustainable. As the organization enters its second decade, their target is to move beyond education towards hands-on action. This ...

Boreal Habitat Conservation Initiative celebrates 10-year partnership

Alberta Conservation Association and Suncor Energy

In 2003, Suncor Energy and Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) formed the Boreal Habitat Conservation Initiative (BHCI) to conserve ecologically significant areas of Alberta’s boreal forest. Since then, with almost $4 million invested, more than 6,570 acres (29 parcels) of natural boreal forest have been protected as a natural space for fish, wildlife, vegetation and Albertans to enjoy. The BHCI began with a pilot project at Winagami Lake in Grande Prairie ...

Public Education and Outreach

Award Recipient

Teacher Professional Development Programs

Inside Education

Inside Education’s Teacher Professional Development Programs provide career-changing experiential learning opportunities for school teachers, community educators and career counselors. Since the first program in 1991, nearly 3,000 Alberta teachers have been immersed in the science, technology, issues and futures surrounding Alberta’s precious water, forest and energy resources. Visiting places like Fort McKay in the north and Pincher Creek in the south, Inside Education provides full-scholarship learning opportunities for educators across ...

Finalists

Net Zero Energy Project

Belgravia Green Team

The Belgravia Green Net Zero Project was initiated in 2008 by Belgravia residents Jeanette Boman and Kevin Taft who love their community. They engaged Effect Home Builders to transform two derelict houses on adjacent lots into three innovative world-class ultra-efficient homes. This improved their neighbourhood, engaged their community and inspired local green initiatives. In a collaborative effort, the team designed and built the homes so they approach or achieve a ...

Green Energy Futures

David Dodge and Duncan Kinney

Amidst the persistent bad news stories associated with climate change and fossil fuel use, a quiet revolution is taking place. People, places and businesses are embracing the transition to cleaner, greener forms of energy. Green Energy Futures is an online multimedia channel dedicated to covering that quiet revolution. They tell positive stories of those who are embracing the transformation of some of society’s largest and most entrenched systems. They tell ...

Shared Footprints Award

Award Recipient

Montane Elk Project

The Montane Elk Program is committed to research ensuring the environmentally sound development of Alberta’s energy resources. With a particular focus on mitigating the effects of energy development on elk in southwest Alberta, the project has become the world’s largest radiotelemetry study on elk. Mitigating the ecological effects of energy development is achieved by sharing roads with the ranching and timber-harvesting industries and by gating and reclaiming roads to natural ...

Finalists

Landscape Ecological Assessment and Planning (LEAP) and the Algar Restoration Pilot Project

Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance

Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) is an alliance of oil sands producers focused on accelerating the pace of improvement in environmental performance in Canada’s oil sands through collaborative action and innovation. The COSIA companies share a common commitment to environmental stewardship and have invested significant resources into innovative approaches to restore footprint and improve woodland caribou habitat. The Landscape Ecological Assessment and Planning (LEAP) process was employed to first ...

Small Business

Award Recipient

Afforestation Project

The Carbon Farmer

The Carbon Farmer Inc. is a grass roots agricultural business that addresses climate change, creates habitat and helps sustain the family farm through its “Carbon Farming Project” that began in 2007. The business concept is to plant native trees, shrubs and grasses and create forests that sequester carbon and help offset emissions while at the same time creating long term habitat for wildlife and providing a sustainable business model for ...

Finalists

Growing native plants for oil sands reclamation

C2C Smoky Lake Forest Nursery

Smoky Lake Forest Nursery is dedicating time and energy to effectively and efficiently producing seedlings of a variety of native tree and shrub species, increasing the biodiversity available to their customers and thereby increasing the biodiversity in reclaimed ecosystems. The oil sands is an important economic driver of the Alberta economy and oil sands companies set a high priority on ecological reclamation – to create functioning ecosystems comprised of a ...

Bullfrog Power

Bullfrog Power, Canada’s 100 per cent green energy provider offers homes and business clean, renewable energy solutions. By choosing Bullfrog Power’s green energy, you can reduce your environmental impact, support the development of new renewable energy projects in Canada and help to create a cleaner world for today and tomorrow. Together with their customers, they are helping to reshape the energy landscape and bring new renewable energy projects online in ...

Youth

Award Recipient

Mycoremediation of the Oil Sands

Kelcie Miller-Anderson

Since the age of 15, Kelcie has been pursuing her own research in an effort to create a method of remediation to combat the tailing ponds created by one of Alberta’s leading industries – the Alberta Oil Sands. Developing a novel method of remediation that utilizes oyster mushrooms, her research showed a substantial reduction of petroleum hydrocarbons, naphthenic acids and pH levels and an enhanced sodium absorption ratio of both ...

Finalists

Phase VII Evance R9000 Wind Turbine

Cochrane High School Sustainable Development Committee

The Cochrane High School Sustainable Development Committee has been involved in the planning, design and installation of a 5 kW Evance R9000 wind turbine on their school property. This committee’s motto is to be the change they wish to see in this world and their mandate is to transform their school’s operations and activities into those that are sustainable and, thus, achieving greater efficiency. Installation of the 5 kW wind ...

Environmental Education

Derek Wong

Derek is a true environmental leader and active member of the SLISE program (Student Led Initiatives for Sustainable Education). While maintaining honours grades, he tirelessly devotes his time to making the world a healthier place. Despite his busy academic life, he has spear-headed humanitarian and environmental initiatives of fundraising to purchase water filtration devices to help with the cholera outbreak in Haiti. No matter what challenges come before him, Derek ...

Stewardship of Alberta’s Native Rangelands

Jalen Hulit

Jalen Hulit is an inspiring youth growing up on his Family’s ranch along the north slopes of the Sweet Grass Hills. For the past three years, Jalen has participated in the Southern Alberta Youth Range Days (YRD) program – a summer camp that provides an opportunity for aspiring young adults interested in Native Rangelands, Ranching, Watersheds and Wildlife related topics to learn about management and receive mentoring from professionals working ...

22nd Annual Emerald Awards

Education: School or Classroom

Award Recipient

Finalists

Emerald Challenge Award: WATER

Award Recipient

Finalists

Government Institution

Award Recipient

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Individual Commitment

Award Recipient

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Large Business

Award Recipient

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Not-For-Profit Association

Award Recipient

Finalists

Public Education and Outreach

Award Recipient

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Shared Footprints Award

Award Recipient

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Small Business

Award Recipient

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Youth

Award Recipient

Finalists