Congratulations to the 2022 Winners of Ontario Envirothon

By Catherine Rose

That's a wrap on the 2022 Ontario Envirothon! This year’s inspiring virtual competition featured 19 student teams, from eight regions, competing for top spot. Regions represented in the competition included Toronto, York, Bruce/Grey, Ottawa, Algoma, Durham, Hamilton/Grand River and Huron/Perth. Each participating team was challenged to complete a series of iNaturalist Challenges from March to April, increasing their awareness of local ecosystems and species. Envirothon invited teams that excelled to advance to the provincial competition and put their presentation and problem-solving skills to the test by research preparing and delivering a presentation within 48 hours. Presentations responded to a set scenario related to the current issue topic of Ecosystem Restoration. We developed this year's scenario in partnership with Grain Farmers of Ontario.

The winners of this year’s Ontario Envirothon competition are from St. Elizabeth Catholic School in York Region! University of Toronto Schools in Toronto, the longtime champions, took second and third place. The winning students will receive prize money thanks to a generous donation from Maple Leaves Forever.

A huge thank you goes out to our sponsors this year: Maple Leaves Forever, Enbridge, Regional Municipality of York, Fleming College, Grain Farmers of Ontario, and Algonquin Forestry Authority! We would also like to thank our dedicated team of 16 volunteers who worked as judges and mentors.

This year’s winning team has qualified for the 2022 NCF-Envirothon Competition which will be held in late July and has decided to make the road trip to Ohio! We wish them the best of luck and are looking forward to hearing more about their adventure!

Photo: Winning team from St. Elizabeth Catholic School in York Region.