Great Lakes Protection Fund Announces 2021 Leadership Award Winners, Including 2 From Pennsylvania
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On September 21, the Great Lakes Protection Fund announced the winners of the 2021 Great Lakes Leadership Award

The Award celebrates the leaders and the innovative use of scientific, philanthropic, organizing, and financial approaches to tackle some of the biggest threats facing the Great Lakes basin today.

Two of the winners are from Penn State's Behrend Campus in Erie--

-- Allegra Cangelosi pioneered the field of ballast treatment technology, which helps the shipping industry limit the transfer of invasive species into the Great Lakes. Her contributions have helped reduce the introduction of new invasive species into the Great Lakes by more than 90 percent.

-- Sherri A. Mason, Ph.D., has elevated the awareness of – and action to stop – microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Her efforts prompted major companies to change their production process and led the Food and Drug Administration to ban plastic microbeads in face creams and shampoos.

Click Here for more on each of these award winners, including short videos.

Each of this year’s Great Lakes Leadership Award winners is receiving a $10,000 prize in recognition of their efforts to pioneer new solutions ripe for adaptation and adoption to tackle future challenges.

“Each of the 2021 Great Lakes Leadership Award winners pioneered an innovative approach to blunting a major threat to the health of our Great Lakes. They were all ahead of their time in creating new solutions ripe for adaptation and adoption to tackle future challenges,” said David Rankin, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Protection Fund. “By recognizing the achievements of these trailblazers, we hope to encourage others who are working to solve complex challenges in the Great Lakes to think big and take risks.”

The Great Lakes Protection Fund is the impact investor for the Great Lakes. Over the past three decades, the Fund has turned big ideas turn into big impact by investing $91 million into projects and teams that are pioneering new technologies, practices, and financing strategies to restore and protect the health of the Great Lakes.

From improved water quality to sustainably managed forests to fewer invasive species entering the lakes, the Fund launches and accelerates innovations that consistently lead to long-term improvements throughout the region.

This is the third year for the Great Lakes Leadership Award.

In 2019, the Fund recognized innovation in water technology that has the potential to vastly improve in the health of the Great Lakes and help secure clean water for the future.

The 2020 Great Lakes Leadership Award went to top storytellers in the region.

For more information, visit the 2021 Great Lakes Leadership Award webpage.  Questions should be directed to Amy Elledge 847-425-8190 or aelledge@glpf.org.

(Photos: Allegra Cangelosi and Sherri A. Mason, Ph.D.)

Related Article:

-- DCNR: Announces Climate And Sustainability Plan Will Take Presque Isle State Park To Net Zero In Erie

[Posted: September 21, 2021]


9/27/2021

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