Ensuring a green future for Noosa Biosphere
ONE of the Noosa Biosphere's shining green light's may have tragically been lost to illness all too soon, but her legacy will help foster a better understanding of living sustainably among our youngest and brightest.
The first winners of the inaugural Dr Christy Fellows Award for Sustainability have been announced, following a creative blitz in local schools throughout term three.
The award was created by Noosa Biosphere Ltd to honour the memory of Dr Fellows, a scientist and loving young mother who passed away unexpectedly in December 2008. Dr Fellows was one of the state's most brilliant researchers as well one of the founding members of NBL's Education, Research and Development Board.
Entries for the $500 prizes were open to all high school students within the Noosa Biosphere Reserve area. Entrants used a combination of video and still photographs to depict their Noosa Biosphere experience with the theme of Our Place, Your Future.
The awards - aimed at enhancing the understanding of sustainability principles attached to UNESCO's Man and Biosphere program while at the same time fostering creativity in our local region - were taken out by St Teresa's Catholic College students Claudia Lamb and Sam Burke.
Runner-up was Lucy Farrell with the prize going to Callum Hewitt.
Dr Scott Richardson of NBL said each winning entry clearly articulated what the Biosphere was and what it meant growing up and living in the Biosphere Reserve.
"Each was also clearly able to discuss the issue of sustainability and detail what they would like to see happen in the Noosa Biosphere Reserve in the future," he said.
St Teresa's Year 10 curriculum co-ordinator, Jim McKendry, said the Dr Christy Fellows Award for Sustainability perfectly complemented the focus of the school's Year 10 Environmental Science course.
"We were able to integrate the competition task as an actual assessment item to provide the students with an opportunity to develop their awareness and understanding of sustainability principles within a context of direct relevance to them - the Noosa Biosphere Reserve," he said.
