Description: This award exemplifies Susie Shields' dedication as a pioneer in sustainability education, including developing Oklahoma’s Use Less Stuff Campaign and chairing the State’s first sustainability conference. (Previous recipients include Susie Shields and Bob Waldrop.)

Recipient: Fenton Rood

What Fenton does better than anyone else is he makes saving the earth seem possible. He lives the environmental life and doesn’t make it a big deal whatsoever. The overwhelming waves of information pointing to a tragic end for this planet can cause anyone to freeze and give up before we even start. Fenton was the first person who made those barriers disappear and opened up a path that makes a sustainable lifestyle seem possible. You see trash on the sidewalk and think that it is sad? Then do something about it! Educate yourself and take action. Do what you can. Do ALL that you can. All of these are mottos that Fenton represents to me. He is the bridge from knowledge to action and that is one of the most important and missing links in environmental education today. He is the best motivator for young people (and older people, too!) to take control of their own lives and make changes to make a difference.

One way that Fenton has set an example for many people was implementing a recycling program annually at the annual Wood Guthrie festival. Rood and other Oklahoma DEQ folks have worked with the Woody Guthrie Coalition and the City of Okemah for the last three years to decrease the waste stream going to the landfill and increase awareness of recycling. This is done with many hours of volunteer work on everyone's part, especially by Fenton. He is never afraid to get his hands dirty - no job is too large or too small for him.

Rood is sought after as a speaker by a variety of groups, as he can tackle any environmental topic intelligently and concisely. He inspires youth at every opportunity, speaking on Earth Day, and other high school and university environmental club meetings and events. He also teaches environmental science classes at OU and Phoenix College in addition to his work at the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

Emily McCauley Award for Oklahoma Sustainability Efforts

Description: This award exemplifies Emily McCauley's tireless efforts as a pioneer in promoting sustainability concepts in Oklahoma, including founding the Oklahoma Sustainability Network in 1998. (Previous recipients include Emily McCauley and Ilda Hershey.)

Rita has worked tirelessly for sustainable efforts around the state and been the key mover behind several of Sustainable Tulsa's past and future successes. These include: The Local Foods Dinner- sold out and great publicity plus fundraising. She coordinated events with Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture events involving food issues and has coordinated statewide events with them. Rita was a key contributor of time, talent, fundraising and more for Sustainable Tulsa's Green Directory of NE Oklahoma. She helped with coordination of this year's conference even, organizing the local foods luncheon and networking at events to find exhibitors.

Rita worked with the Farmers Market to promote sustainable foods, helped get farmers organized to sell their products statewide, worked to put on the Go Green conference with AIA and has served on this committed since the inception, and on numerous other events, including the Millennium house tour which was her idea and had over 2000 visitors! Rita has worked with others to promote sustainable housing and to promote the idea of eliminating substandard housing in Tulsa. She helped bring several key people into the Sustainable Tulsa organization and has been at the crossroads of all of ST events. It is time for her to be recognized for her tireless efforts since to promote sustainable solutions in Oklahoma.

Corey Wren Williams deserves to receive an award for so many reasons. She is a brilliant researcher for the Metropolitan Environmental Trust, a terrific mother of two, but most of all for her tireless efforts related to the first chapter that flourished from OSN, Sustainable Tulsa. In addition to hundreds (if not thousands) of hours as the first president working on educational meetings for the general public, she also chaired and coordinated efforts as well as supplied content for the first ever Sustainable Tulsa Green Directory. This publication has been offered at a few locations in Tulsa and most recently has been distributed at neighborhood events throughout the summer of 2006. Corey's ability and dedication to manage a project of this size as a volunteer was, in a word, FANTABULOUS! Through a partnership with the University of Tulsa, this document is not only available in print, but is now Tulsa’s largest data base of local area businesses on the Sustainable Tulsa website, SustainableTulsa.org. Corey is truly a living example of “walking the talk”. She is a pioneer in the Oklahoma sustainability movement and without her initiative; Tulsa would not be the leading chapter of OSN.

Description: This award recognizes exceptional leadership efforts toward the long-term improvement of Oklahoma's economy, ecology, and equity. (New award this year)

Recipient: Jay Yowell

This award was added this year by the Committee with Jay in mind. Jay is a founding member and first president for the Oklahoma Sustainability Network. Jay spent a great deal of time networking and bringing folks into the OSN fold.

In his own community, Jay was involved with establishing the non-profit Edmond Land Conservancy after being part of the city’s task force to study trails and the conservation of green space in Edmond.

AIA COTE (American Institute of Architects, Committee on the Environment), Oklahoma Chapter: He helped Francis Kubier and others form an AIA COTE (American Institute of Architects, Committee on the Environment), Oklahoma Chapter in order to better coordinate "green" building efforts with the National AIA COTE.

The University of Oklahoma created a new lecture class for Jay in 2004 entitled "Architecture and the Environment" as visiting professor. This course teaches students in the design profession the ethics of sustainable design, the different aspects of sustainable design and gives them tools to create sustainable design (hopefully here in OK) when they graduate. His architectural teaching assignments have now considerably expanded at OU.

Jay is a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) accredited Professional who has now started his own company. He received a contract (along with a partner) to complete LEED certification for the new federal building in Oklahoma City.

He is always setting an example for leadership in Oklahoma sustainability efforts.

CARRIE DICKERSON Lifetime Achievement Award

Description: This award recognizes exceptional lifetime achievement toward the long-term improvement of Oklahoma's economy, ecology, and equity. (New award this year - not expected to be given every year)

Carrie Barefoot Dickerson

Carrie is a true Oklahoma hero! She spent over nine years of her life and $550,000 of her personal family fortune to stop a nuclear power plant from being built near Inola, OK in the 1970’s. She formed an organization and called it CASE (Citizen’s Actions for Safe Energy) and has now modified the group name to fit recent efforts across our state related to sustainability. She dedicated her life to learning all about nuclear power and the dangers those plants are to everyone around them. Her late husband often reminded Carrie that she had to offer something in place of the nuclear option. Since defeating Black Fox, she has dedicated her time to promoting wind power, a clean and renewable energy that can be produced right here in western OK. She has been working on an educational story for children and has recently completed it. Carrie doesn’t care that she turned 89 in May 2006 and that she should consider taking it easy and enjoying life.

The lessons a person can learn from her are simply remarkable. She is a living testimony regarding perseverance. Although she was a school teacher and nurse, she taught herself extensive knowledge about the threats of nuclear power and her determination along with a group of thoughtful citizens saved Okies from living with a nuclear plant. We all owe Carrie Barefoot Dickerson a grand gesture; this award is simply one small token of our thanks!

An excerpt from the website of the Carrie Dickerson Foundation gives a more complete description of Carrie's accomplishments. The website should be reviewed for more information about this remarkable woman: www.CarrieDickersonFoundation.com

Carrie Dickerson is worthy of recognition by the OSN because her story includes several notable features that are consistent with the mission of the Oklahoma Sustainability Network:

• Her dedication to the goal of safe energy, which has benefited many and inspired countless others;
• Her courage, as evidenced by the considerable sacrifice and risk that she endured in order to pursue her goals; and
• The civility and grace which she demonstrated as she did battle with an array of powerful foes who opposed her.

As we seek to create a more peaceful and more sustainable world, we should remember that we stand upon the shoulders of giants. Carrie is one of them.