South Carolina Environmental Awareness Award
The S.C. Environmental Awareness Award was established by S.C. General Assembly during the 1992 legislative session to recognize outstanding contributions made toward the protection, conservation, and improvement of South Carolina’s natural resources.
Each year the public is invited to submit nominations that are then reviewed by an awards committee. In judging nominees, the committee considers excellence in innovation, leadership, and accomplishments that influence positive changes affecting the natural environment.
Awards Committee
Members of the awards committee represent the S.C. Forestry Commission, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, and the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
Submitting a Nomination
Review nomination guidelines, award criteria, find nomination forms, and contact information at the S.C. Department of Environmental Services.
Previous Award Winners
2025 – Melanie Ruhlman, president, Save Our Saluda
2024 – Kelly Thorvalson, South Carolina Aquarium
2023 – Elizabeth Vernon (E.V.) Bell, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium
2021 – James Frederick, Ph.D., Clemson University
2020 – Jane Hiller, Education Director, Sonoco Recycling (S.C. Department of Natural Resources)
2019 – Gloria S. McCutcheon, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Claflin University
2018 – Patrick McMillan, Ph.D., Clemson University, S.C. Botanical Garden
2016 – Sean Poppy, Outreach Educator, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
2015 – Mark Madden, Environmental Educator, Charleston County PRC
2014 – George W. McDaniel, Ph.D., Director of Drayton Hall Plantation
2013 – Joseph R. Hamilton, Founder of the Quality Deer Management Association
2012 – Thomas Kester, Chairman and Treasurer for the Conestee Foundation
2011 – Patricia J. DeCoursey, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina
2010 – Frank S. Holleman, III, President, Naturaland Trust
2009 – Fred Holland, Ph.D., Coastal Ecologist, Charleston
2008 – Benjamin Ziegler, Chairman, Pee Dee Land Trust
2007 – Richard Porcher, Jr., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, The Citadel
2006 – Rick Huffman, Founder, South Carolina Native Plant Society
2004 – John L. Knott, Jr., President, Noisette Company, North Charleston
2003 – Burris Family, Owners, Cypress Bay Plantation Tree Farm, Beaufort
2002 – Jack Turner, Ph.D., Director, Watershed Ecology Center, University of South Carolina
2001 – James D. Elliott, Jr., Founder, South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey
2000 – Dave Hargett, Ph.D., Conservationist, Greenville
1999 – Kenneth Strickland, Environmentalist, Florence
1998 – Yancey A. McLeod, Jr., Environmental Educator, Eastover
1997 – Brad Wyche, President, Friends of the Reedy River, Greenville
1996 – Beaufort County Clean Water Task Force
1995 – Whitfield Gibbons, Ph.D., Senior Research Ecologist, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
1994 – Marion Burnside, Chairman, S.C. Department of Natural Resources