The Texas Environmental Excellence Awards is an annual awards program that honors achievements in environmental preservation and protection. There are ten diverse award categories that provide citizens, communities, businesses, and organizations an opportunity to obtain the state’s highest environmental honor and be recognized for their environmental projects. The deadline for submission is September 27th.

Since 1993, they have honored more than 250 successful environmental projects and efforts. By honoring these winners, the TCEQ hopes to encourage others to initiate like-minded projects and reinforce a spirit of environmental stewardship. These are the categories:

• Agriculture
• Civic/Community
• Education
• Environmental Educator of the Year
• Individual
• Innovative Operations/Management
• Pollution Prevention
• Technical/Technology
• Water Conservation
• Youth

Shell Educators’ Preview: Start your evening at 4 p.m. and earn one hour of CPE credit while viewing our newly renovated George W. Strake Hall of Malacology.

HMNS’ Educator Members will have an opportunity to speak to Tina Petway, the
Museum’s Associate Curator of Malacology, during the Shell Educators’ Preview.
As a special treat, all guests will also be able to visit our newest special exhibition,
Art of the Brick until 6:00 p.m.!

The Educator Event @HMNS: Continue your evening with us starting at 5 p.m.
and earn up to three additional hours of CPE credit depending on which
programming you attend. HMNS is featuring several ways to earn CPE credit from
attending workshops to taking a guided tour to seeing a show in our Planetarium.
Educators are able to earn a total of up to 4 hours of CPE credit while attending
HMNS’, An Evening for Educators!

Registration Information
Educators: Free
Non-Educators: $10.00

(Pricing includes entry to the George W. Strake Hall of Malacology and Art of the Brick)
Registration begins Tuesday, July 30th and ends Wednesday, October 2nd.
Please complete the online form at hmns.org/eveningforeducators to reserve your spot. For questions, contact educatorevent@hmns.org.

The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. is sponsoring a FREE Going Green Sustainability lecture: “Mycophile or Mycophobe–we all need mushrooms” with guest speaker, Teri MacArthur, Certified Texas Master Naturalist. This event is free and open to the public.

RESET® Air, the world’s first sensor-based and performance-driven Building Standard and Certification Program, comes to Houston for an Introduction and Discussion Forum followed by a RESET Air Accredited Professionals (AP) Education Intensive and Practicum Exam. RESET Air Certification helps Building Owners attract businesses that understand that employee health and comfort directly connect to their prosperity and attract and retain the best and brightest employees through transparent independent assurance that the health of their environment is continuously verified.

Join us for a morning of exploration and enlightenment at The Hill on October 26, 2019. Please see the flyer in the event discussion. The rail is approximately 2.5 miles; shorter routes are available. All ages and fitness levels are welcome.

This event is being held in conjunction with the 1st Annual SCC Cloverland and Paradise Valley Breast Cancer Awareness Event.

Mark your calendars. NHS Hill Hikes will now be held on the 4th Saturday of every month.

The scenic view of Houston from the Hill is a must-see ! Hill Hikes… Refreshing, Inspiring, Enlightening, FUN !

Rain is as important as carbon dioxide in cooling our planet. People must restore trees and soil to restore the water cycle.

The image above shows how trees pump huge amounts of water back into the air and create more rain further inland. It is a river in the sky.

When folks started climate modeling, to simplify, they ignored water vapor and focused on carbon dioxide. But the water cycle is 95% of planetary cooling while carbon dioxide is only 5%, according to Dr. Walter Jehne. We need to keep on reducing emissions, but it’s time to also work on restoring ecosystems and their soils. Besides this may be an easier and faster way to make a difference.

To learn more and register to this event visit Coolingourplanet

The Environmental Educators Exchange meets quarterly on the first Wednesday of the month. Our goal is to provide a neat space to rejuvenate, network and learn about trends in environmental education. All are welcome (including children). Bring a snack to share and invite a friend.

Tentative Agenda:
3:30 – 5:00 canoe in the lake
5:00 – 5:45 networking & resource sharing
5:45 – 6:30 night hike & bonfire?!?

A few rules: For canoeing, we can accommodate children weighing 30 pounds or more. Also, there must be one adult paddler per canoe and one adult per child 10 years and younger. Example: 2 adults with 2 children 10 and younger, 1 adult with 1 child 11+. Maximum 4 persons to a canoe. i.e. One parent cannot ride alone with two children. Canoes and PFDs will be furnished. You may bring your own canoe/kayak.

CELF Citizen Science: Inquiry to Action is a semester-long program that engages educators and students in project-based STEAM learning outside of the classroom. Tailored to each school and community location, we offer professional learning workshops for teachers paired with on-site support to implement a project-based learning module that  connects students to real-world challenges in their own neighborhoods. The program culminates in a Spring 2020 Student Symposium, bringing together all participating schools to present their findings and pollution-prevention plans to community members and real-world policy makers. The program combines the development of 21st century skills with the motivation and creativity generated by solving a problem in one’s own community.

Participants in the program will:

• Implement a project-based STEAM learning unit.

• Participate in professional learning workshops paired with on-site educator support.

• Collect data with AirBeam monitoring technology combined with HabitatMap crowd-sourced data sharing platform.

• Focus on air-quality while learning pedagogical principles that apply to a range of citizen science learning opportunities.

• Engage with local concerns through student-led inquiry.

This opportunity is grant-funded. Join one of the workshops, connect with our educators for on-site support, and come together with other classes implementing this program at our 2020 Spring Student Symposium.

If you attend one of these two professional development opportunities you can attain 2-hours of Continuing Professional Education credit, receive an air quality monitor, connect with local environmental partners, and enjoy a free lunch with fellow educators. You will also gain access to the 2020 Student Symposium, the culminating event for the program.

The combination of IoT and big data analytics allow cities to imagine ways to be more efficient, resilient, sustainable in many fields like energy, building, mobility, utilities, safety, waste management and so on.

But Smart city solutions are not only designed for cities. They are also highly attractive for universities, hospitals and large companies to improve the management of their assets and their consumption of energy and natural resources.

What is the reality of the smart city concept?

What is going on in Houston and elsewhere in the US?

What are the main solutions provided by the vendors to the MUSH market and to the companies?

Attend our event to get a glimpse of what the city, corporates and startups have to offer to build a smart city.

SPEAKERS

Introduction:

• Franck Avice, President, French-American Chamber Of Commerce Houston
• Christine Galib, Director, Ion Smart Cities Accelerator

Moderator:

• William Fulton, Director at Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University

Panelists:

• Jessie Bounds, Director of Innovation, City Of Houston
• Kimberly Jonhston, National Tax Partner Energy, Ernst & Young
• Roger Flud, Smart City Specialist & Sales Team Leader, Schneider Electric
• Bruce Rutherford, International Director, JLL

AGENDA

5:30pm: Check-in/Networking; 6:00pm: Panel Discussion; 7:30pm: Networking Cocktail

Parking available at Green Street Garage on Fannin Street or on street after 6pm for free.