Leading By Example

Nature Collective Trail Monitoring Intern, Elizabeth Hazard, Honored with Encinitas Environmental Youth Award

Congratulations to Elizabeth Hazard, one of our outstanding high school volunteer interns! The City of Encinitas announced its inaugural Environmental Hero Youth program and recently awarded the honor to Elizabeth.

We nominated Elizabeth because we see an established leader and connector of our natural world for all. She is an 11th-grade Honors Student at San Dieguito Academy. Elizabeth joined us as a Trail Monitoring Intern because she embraces our vision of connecting people with nature, stewarding everyone to experience its magic, and inspiring ways to protect nature now and always.

She gets to see San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve’s wilder side by assisting in the performing of transects in three regions and propagating reserve-sourced seedlings for our Native Plant Nursery. She collects our wildlife camera data (a mom bobcat and her cub were a big highlight). She helped develop an Invasive Plant Management Plan with our team mentors that details highly invasive Southern California plants and targeted removal strategies.

Not many can relate they have visited more than 50 National Parks, but Elizabeth has Junior Ranger badges as symbols of the saved lands and waters that inform her passions. She has locally presented about the Junior Ranger program to inspire kindergarteners about the outdoors.

Rock on, Elizabeth and keep it wild!

Award presented by City of Encinitas Environmental Commission