LINCOLN, Nebraska – High school students from across Nebraska gathered April 30, 2025, in Omaha for the 33rd annual Nebraska State Envirothon. Dawson County Envirothon Club earned the championship title and a $1,500 prize, securing their spot to represent Nebraska at the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon, which will be held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Envirothon is an environmental education program for high school students that combines classroom learning and outdoor activities. The competition rotates around the state, and this year’s competition was hosted at Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District’s Chalco Hills Recreation Area in Omaha.

“Envirothon allows students to get outdoors and learn about natural resources in a hands-on environment,” said Martin Graff, Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD) president. “The activities are designed to help students become environmentally aware, action-oriented adults, but also exposes them to many exciting career opportunities.”

During the state competition, five-member teams were tested on their knowledge of aquatics, forestry, policy, range, soils and wildlife, as well as prepared and delivered an oral presentation focusing on a current environmental issue. Some of the immersive test questions require students to identify live animals, measure trees, distinguish range grasses and determine soil texture.

The 2025 oral presentation theme “Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a Canopy of Change” challenged teams to develop a sustainable management plan for a section of the Boreal Forest, ensuring its long-term health and resilience in the face of climate change.

“Students work together to research the current environmental issue, and consider the hypothetical impacts,” Graff said. “It is important to train students to think critically and problem solve, because they’ll encounter difficult issues in their lives and their future careers.”

The NARD Foundation awarded cash prizes to the top three teams at the state competition:

• First Place ($1,500): Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Second Place ($1,000): Concordia Lutheran of Omaha
• Third Place ($500): Tri-County Public Schools

Additional prizes were awarded to the top teams in each testing category:

• Aquatics: Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Forestry: Tri-County Public Schools
• Policy: Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Range: Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Soils: Dawson County Envirothon Club
• Wildlife (Tie): Dawson County Envirothon Club and St. Paul High School
• Oral Presentation: Dawson County Envirothon Club

Seventy teams competed in the regional contests during February and March, and 14 teams qualified to participate in the state competition.

Dawson County Envirothon Club will represent Nebraska at the NCF-Envirothon July 19-26, 2025, to compete for a top prize of $15,000. The international NCF-Envirothon will be hosted at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and include more than 45 teams from the U.S., Canada, China and Singapore.

In addition to Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts, 2025 Nebraska Envirothon sponsors and partners included Farm Credit Services of America, HDR, Houston Engineering, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, Nebraska Forest Service, Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, Nebraska FFA Foundation, Smithfield Foods, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the University of Nebraska School of Natural Resources.

Learn more about the Nebraska Envirothon at www.nrdnet.org/nebraska-envirothon. 

Dawson County Envirothon Club takes home the Nebraska Envirothon Championship April 30, 2025. The team also took home awards for high scores in Aquatics, Policy, Range, Soils, Wildlife and the Oral Presentation. Team members include: Brooklyn Reiman (Gothenburg High School), Casey Wahlgren (Gothenburg High School), Parker Walahoski (Overton High School), Paige Walahoski (Overton High School) and Jaelin Wolfinger (Sumner-Eddyville-Miller Schools).