News from the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition and the Iowa Association of Naturalists Laura McCreery Wins Statewide Award for Excellence in Environmental Education
January 13, 2025
The Iowa Association of Naturalists (IAN) and the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition (ICEC) are proud to award Laura McCreery with an IAN/ICEC Award for Excellence in Environmental Education. The award is the 2024 Bohumil Shimek Environmental Educator Award for outstanding efforts by an environmental educator. The IAN/ICEC Awards for Excellence in Environmental Education are awarded annually to recognize incredible contributions to the advancement of environmental literacy in Iowa.
Laura McCreery has been a life science and environmental science teacher at Davenport North High School for the past 21 years. She has challenged environmental science students to take action to improve their community through action projects including reducing single use plastic in the cafeterias, adding visible trash and recycling cans at each of the school entrances, and pop up recycling containers to be used at athletic events. She has coordinated several community events including showcases of student learning annually and a Project Watershed Expo in partnership with the City of Davenport. Over the past two years Mrs. McCreery has taken over 60 dual credit environmental science students to participate in the Upper Mississippi River Conference and has worked closely with River Action. Last year the students worked to develop solutions for the stormwater runoff in the city of LeClaire, Iowa. After the presentations the city has applied for funding to implement some of their ideas. She has worked closely with Living Lands and Waters to help with their Million Tree Project and has brought the tree wrapping into the school to expose more students to the project. Furthermore, Mrs. McCreery has sponsored the Green Team for the past 4 years. It is her policy that the club be student led and currently the students are participating in a nationwide creek water monitoring project, litter and recycling data collection of the school yard, maintaining the rain garden, hosting a holiday free store, and presenting a film at the QC Environmental Film Festival in February. Mrs. McCreery is able to teach the next generation of science minded citizens to care about the environment formally in classes during the day and to help to give opportunities for students to start their participation and stewardship of the environment now in extracurricular activities.
Laura McCreery joins a long history of outstanding environmental educators in the state of Iowa. The environmental educator award is named in honor of Bohumil Shimek. Shimek was a professor of botany at the University of Iowa and the first director of the Lakeside Laboratory at Lake Okoboji. He is considered Iowa’s first environmental educator due to his goals of extending botany and nature study to include appreciation, enjoyment, and stewardship of the natural world.
Congratulations to Laura McCreery! Thank you for your outstanding efforts on behalf of environmental education in Iowa.