Champions for the Environment
Father and daughter duo from Annapolis County among those recognized at 2018 Gulf of Maine Awards
On June 5, 2018 the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment recognized a number of individuals and organizations for their efforts to protect, enhance and restore the ecosystem of the Gulf of Maine region and safeguard and improve the wellbeing of the communities that depend on its resources at their annual awards ceremony.
Clean Annapolis River Project is very proud that Grade 11 student Alex Hancock was among the exceptional group of people celebrated at the award ceremony held in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Alex was CARP’S nominee for a Visionary Award, which recognizes innovation, creativity, and commitment to protecting the marine environment.
Alex is a student at Annapolis West Education Center in Annapolis Royal. She became involved with CARP when she joined the group’s Youth Leading Environmental Change program in 2016. Alex has supported a variety of local conservation, research, and monitoring projects, such as instream fish habitat restoration to benefit anadromous fish, and Alex Hancock, who is going into Grade 12 at Annapolis West Education Centre, received a Gulf of Main Council on the Marine Environment Visionary Award recently. She’s seen here at a beach clean-up, one of her many involvements in improving the environment.
aquatic habitat suitability index assessments.
Passion
Alex’s passion for the marine environment has become evident through her actions. In the summer of 2017 she was part of a youth team who used the Annapolis Royal Natal Day Parade as an opportunity to raise awareness about the negative impacts
of plastics on our estuary and marine environments. Decorated using materials collected during beach clean ups, their float garnered major attention. Continuing this theme, Alex volunteered for a local event: Storm Warnings: A Cautionary Tale of Climate Change, a collaboration between the Centre for Local Prosperity, King’s Theatre, and Satso Art Gallery.
During the Fall of 2017, Alex was part of a small team who worked together to create a presentation to the Annapolis County municipal council based on their observations through the Youth Leading Environmental Change program. Their message included a call to action to address marine plastics and illegal dumping, and the degradation, fragmentation, and loss of wildlife habitat.
As a member of her school Social Issues Club, Alex approached CARP proposing a partnership to organize a series of community beach clean-ups during the summer of 2017. Alex took the lead on this initiative, which engaged local students and residents. After a successful pilot season, Alex is working to coordinate an even more extensive series of clean-up events between May and September 2018.
Sharpe Honoured Too
What makes this award even more exciting is that Alex was able to share the celebration with her father, Andy Sharpe, who was also recognized with a Visionary Award. Mike Parker and Andy Sharpe of East Coast Aquatics have been an integral part of the restoration of Big Meadow Bog, on Brier Island, Nova Scotia. This 60-hectare peatland is one of the last remaining places on earth where the Eastern Mountain Avens continues to sustain itself despite poor condition of the bog complex. Mike and Andy helped design and carry out the engineering for this innovative restoration plan to return historic water level dynamics to the bog complex for the Eastern Mountain Avens Recovery Team.
The Annapolis River watershed community is very fortunate to have leaders such as Alex, Andy and Mike working to make positive environmental change.
About CARP
Clean Annapolis River Project is an environmental NGO that operates throughout the Annapolis River Watershed, with an office in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Their mission is to enhance the ecological health of the Annapolis River watershed through science, leadership and community engagement. For more information visit www.annapolisriver.ca