Two Decorah Envirothon teams recently competed in the state contest held at Jester State Park near Saylorville, Iowa. Both teams had qualified for the state competition by achieving very high scores at regional competition. They, along with 13 other teams from across the state, vied for the state title and a trip to the international Envirothon contest to be held in Geneva, New York this year.

For the second year in a row, team DNR finished first at the state competition. Team members are Lucas Arendt, Connor Evelsizer, Gabriel Hiner, Anders Lovstuen, and Aiden Nalean-Carlson. By finishing first at the state contest, they have earned an expense-paid trip to New York to represent Iowa in international competition July 28th-August 3rd. The DNR team had the outright high score in the Aquatics, Forestry, Soils, and Oral Speech categories.

For the second year in a row, team Skabush also qualified to compete in state competition and finished in an impressive second place. Team members include Henry Weis, Nathan Swarbrick, Alex McGohan, Riley Berns and Carson Bohner, who won the current Issue category and finished with high scores in each of the other categories. This is the first year that Decorah teams, competing at the state level, have taken home the first and second place awards.

The Envirothon is a team competition for high school students, testing their knowledge of the natural world around them. In the field and classroom, teams of five students are challenged to use their knowledge and critical thinking skills to conduct hands-on investigations, solve real-life scenarios, and answer questions covering five categories: Aquatics, Forestry, Soils, Wildlife, and a current topic. This year’s current topic, “Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future,” required each five-member team to also prepare and present a speech outlining a designed plan with recommendations and possible solutions to meet the current topic challenges.    

Advisor Larry Berland shared, “I am very proud to say that 60 awesome Decorah high school students participated in the Envirothon program this year. They offer hope for the Earth’s environment.”  He continued, “A very special thank you goes out to Barb Schroeder and the Winneshiek County Conservation Board along with Conservation Districts of Iowa for their generous donations to our cause. I also want to thank parents, school administration, teachers, and a community that cares: you make our success possible.” 

Envirothon State First Place Winner 24: Lucas Arendt, Aiden Nalean-Carlson, Gabriel Hiner, Connor Evelsizer, and Anders Lovstuen

Skabush at State – Second Place: Henry Weis, Carson Bohner, Alex McGohan, Nathan Swarbrick, and Riley Berns

Envirothon State Winners 24: Front row–first place team:  Connor Evelsizer, Anders Lovstuen, Gabriel Hiner, Aiden Nalean-Carlson, and Lucas Arendt

Back row–second place team: Chaperone Nick Lovstuen, Carson Bohner, Nathan Swarbrick, Riley Berns, Alex McGohan, Henry Weis, and Advisor Larry Berland