We are very please to announce the OuTstanding In Stewardship award winners of 2022.
Agriculture: Michael and Clara Hampson
Individual: Robert Gibbs
Organization/Business: Ecoplast Solutions Inc
Youth: Altario School with their student led growcer project
The OTIS Award is a way to recognize individuals, agricultural initiatives, businesses and organizations, and youth in the Battle River and Sounding Creek watersheds who are OuTstanding In Stewardship. Stewardship is taking action to care for our watershed, including the land, air, water, and biodiversity. It also supports healthy communities, including our culture and economy, now and into the future.
The OTIS Award is named after the star character in the book series “Otis and Friends: Environmental Adventures.” This series was written by Ponoka high-school students in our Caring for our Watersheds Contest. Otis and his friends help people take action to create a better watershed. OTIS is also an acronym for OuTstanding In Stewardship! Otis, his authors, and the OTIS Award Winners are examples for us all. Nominations are accepted annually between July 1 and March 31. OTIS Award details.
Use the form below to nominate someone you know for an OTIS Award!
Michael and Clara Hampson custom graze cow/calf pairs. Working with the ALUS Wetaskiwin-Leduc program, they are allowing natural willow regrowth and adding goose nest towers. Other beneficial management practices they adopted include excluding livestock access to a woodlot and implementing an off-site watering source, a creek crossing, and riparian fencing. These changes have increased habitat, protected and enhanced biodiversity, and improved the Eyot Creek’s riparian area.
Robert Gibbs has volunteered in watershed management with the Pigeon Lake Watershed Association (PLWA) for over 15 years. He is a PLWA Board Member, Chair of its Watershed Management Plan Steering Committee, and member of its science committee. You will find Bob collecting water samples, establishing a creek sampling program with watershed staff, producing GIS maps to assess the hydrological and ecological implications of development initiatives in the watershed, and more.
Ecoplast Solutions Inc. manufactures high efficiency building materials made from 100% recycled plastic bottles and uses the product to build high‐performance dwellings. This green building technology provides a sustainable solution that enables circular economics to reduce wasteful in the construction industry, while creating structures with high energy ratings for reduced heating, cooling, and operational costs. They just completed a house near Millet, using 1.25 million recycled plastic bottles that were converted into building panels.
Student Led Growcer Project involves a hydroponic food modular. Students plant, transplant, harvest, and sell leafy greens grown in a shipping container. Each week approximately 50 plants are sold through a student-run store and directly to Provost Lodge. This growing method contributes to food security in rural Alberta, reduces the ecological footprint of the growing cycle, uses state-of-the-art technology, and gives students hands-on experience in the agricultural industry.
Individual: Lorne Ferguson – Volunteer stewardship
Business: Dan and Harriet Liddle – Nature with agriculture
Organization: Wainwright Wildlife Society – Valuing wild spaces
Youth: Round Hill Renaissance Agricultural Foundation – Growing Rural Education
Individual: Glen Hvenegaard
Business: Camrose Energy
Organization: Millet & District Museum
Youth: Hughenden Public School
Individual: Pres Winter – Blue Bird Trail
Business/Organization: City of Wetaskiwin – Municipal Sustainability
Youth: Junior Forest Wardens, The Grove Grizzlies – Creek Restoration
Farm: Brenda Bohmer, Brenlea Farms – Improving Practices for Wetlands
Individual: Don and Marie Ruzicka – Leading by Example
Business/Organization: Nica’s Hair Salon – Reduce Salon Waste
Youth: Wainwright Girl Guides – Park Clean-up and Beautification
Farm: Tin Forest Farm – Caretakers of Farm Wetlands
Individual: Tom Tomaszewski – Conservation Volunteer
Business/Organization: Buffalo Lake Naturalist Club – Sharing their love of nature
Youth: Katelynn Cook – Environmental Educator
Farm: MSW Farms – Beneficial Agricultural Practices
Individual: Susan Ellis – Pigeon Lake Leadership
Business/Organization: Chinook Applied Research Association- Agricultural Best Management
Youth: Lougheed Colony School- Tree Stewardship
Individual: Roy and Judy Louis-Water Ceremony Leadership
Business/Organization: Blue Dot Camrose- City Declaration of Environmental Rights
Youth: Mina Shin and Brooklyn Green- Greening Golf Courses
Individual: Midge Lambert- Watershed restoration
Business/Organization: County of Vermilion River,- Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS)
Youth: EcoVision- Local Food production
Individual: Mike Black-Battle Lake Stewards
Youth: Maven Boddy and the Golden Prairie 4H club- Riparian Restoration
Business/Organization: Lacombe County-Environmental Management
Individual: Carol Wilson- Stewardship Advocate
Youth Category: Kaitlin Lomas, Katie and Vicki Wyering, Melissa Gartner-Otis and Friends Book series authors
Business/Organization: Darcy and Candace Goodrich, Pure Stock County Farms- Eco-farmers