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DOUGLAS BIOLOGY CLASS WINS EPA'S ENVIRONMENTAL YOUTH AWARD

Release Date: 4/14/1999
Contact Information: Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1587

                         
     SAN FRANCISCO -- The biology class at Douglas High School in Douglas, Ariz., has won regional top honors in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 1998 President's Environmental Youth Awards Program.  The class of Hans Bodenhamer developed a project to reverse the declining population trend of the Chiricahua leopard frog from eggs to maturity.

      "We recognize these high school students for demonstrating scientific curiosity and dedication to help prevent a local species from becoming endangered or extinct," said Felicia Marcus, the EPA's regional administrator.  

      The biology class first studied the frogs and their native habitats.  Then the students dug ponds on their campus and at several nearby elementary schools to create additional habitats for the frogs. They also became mentors to their elementary school peers in the care of this species. The Chiricahua leopard frog is a native of southeast Arizona.  

      Student Rene Leon and Bodenhamer will join other regional winners at a national ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 15, 1999, where they will be honored by EPA Administrator Carol Browner.