The Committee is planning a virtual event for May 2021. All team registration fees will be waived for this program year. To participate, we invite all teams to attend virtual webinars and workshops leading up to the May event and a commitment to be involved in the actual event. The Committee looks forward to all the creative possibilities that a remote program affords.
After preparing through the school year, high school students from Massachusetts communities from Boston to the Berkshires are ready to show how much they know about Massachusetts’ soils, forests, water, and wildlife, as well as this year’s Current Issue when they gather for the annual Massachusetts Envirothon competition.
At the outdoor field competition event, teams rotate through four “ecostations” where they answer written questions and engage in hands-on activities such as soil analysis, wildlife habitat assessment, tree identification, and water quality measures. Each team has up to 10 participants and splits into specialized sub-teams during the competition, each focusing their efforts at different ecostations.
- For more info, see: What happens at an ecostation?
At the fifth station, the Current Issue, each team gives a 15 minute presentation on the Current Issue to a panel of judges. Teams have been researching the Current Issue in their own community in preparation for their presentation. Each panel of judges includes concerned citizens and environmental professionals from government agencies, non-profit organizations, academia and private industry. Teams were asked to assess how the issue may affect their community and to recommend steps that their city or town and individuals, including young people, should take to respond to the challenge.
- For more info, see: How does the Current Issue work?
- Sample 2016 presentation 1
- Sample 2016 presentation 2
Competition details by year:
Massachusetts Envirothon 