RALEIGH, N.C. — Hundreds of North Carolina’s brightest middle and high school students will be competing at the 2019 North Carolina Envirothon at Cedarock Park near Burlington, May 3-4, 2019. The two-day event is designed to test the knowledge and skills of students that have a strong interest in natural resources conservation. The N.C. Envirothon is one of the largest events of its kind in the United States.
Student competitors have been preparing for the state Envirothon since the beginning of the school year and will compete for numerous awards and scholarships. During the past 29 years more than 20,000 students have competed in the N.C. Envirothon, which encourages youth to become involved in natural resources conservation education and leadership activities.
Besides studying ecology and natural resources, students learn hands-on skills, such as wildlife identifications, forestry management techniques, soils classifications, stream ecology, and water quality sampling. Students often receive training from local, state and federal natural resource agencies, as well as private environmental organizations.
To qualify for the N.C. Envirothon, three-to-five-member teams had to place in the top seven positions within their grade divisions at one of eight, area-level qualifying events held earlier this year across the state. Teams represent diverse groups, including public and private schools, homeschooled students and 4-H and FFA. 2019 sponsors of the NC Envirothon include Smithfield Foods, Duke Energy, NC State University Department of Soil Science and more.
State awards will be given to top teams at the middle and high school levels. Scholarships are awarded to the top place high school team(s). The high school winning team of this year’s state Envirothon will represent North Carolina at the 2019 National Conservation Foundation Envirothon, which will be held July 28-August 2, 2019 in Raleigh, North Carolina. This competition has evolved into an international event and rotates its location between the United States and Canada providing travel opportunities for teams. During this event teams from across the United States, Canada and China are expected to compete for $100,000 in scholarships and prizes.
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