Cardno ENTRIX Assists with Environmental Educational Project
On Friday, May 8th, Knights Elementary School in Plant City, Florida, held a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Knights P.R.E.S.E.R.V.E. project (Protecting and Rescuing Environmentally Sensitive Resources in a Varied Ecosystem). This ceremony was the culmination of approximately four years of effort to create a small, but significant, wetland preserve and environmental education area on the campus of Knights Elementary School. This team effort grew out of the energy and resources of the school administration, faculty and students, as well as several funding agencies and private partners. One of the primary private-sector funding and manpower sources for the project was CF Industries, which is a long-term and key Cardno ENTRIX client.
Beth Wertschnig of our Tampa office came to Cardno ENTRIX after a decade of employment at CF Industries as an ecological restoration specialist. Beth spent countless hours, as a CF Industries employee, then as an Cardno ENTRIX employee along with her personal time to help make the preserve possible. Through our close relationship with CF Industries, Cardno ENTRIX provided consulting and project management, along with wetland restoration manual labor, at or below cost to make the project feasible.
Prior to its present state, the preserve was a highly abused system, long-forgotten at the back corner of the school campus. As is often found with rural wetlands, it had become a dumping ground and was overgrown with invasive and exotic vegetations. After many hours of physical labor by faculty, volunteers and contractors including Cardno ENTRIX staff the wetland was successfully reclaimed as a healthy ecosystem dominated with desirable native species. Under Beth's direction, a boardwalk and observation platform were also installed to allow students to easily and safely enter the wetland for observation, data collection, and classroom work. Thanks to a generous contribution of equipment and expertise from a local technology firm, the school now has the ability to capture video and publish it to a website thereby further enhancing the preserve's educational benefits.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by CF Industries, U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis, key members of the Hillsborough County School Board and a number of local environmental agency representatives. Cardno ENTRIX salutes Beth for her tireless and creative efforts in assisting with this important project. We are extremely pleased to have been a small part of this undertaking that will serve as a focal point for environmental education for students for many years to come.
