Senior White House and Department of the Interior officials this summer honored Iowa's Project AWARE and 15 other groups and individuals as national winners of the Take Pride in America awards for outstanding accomplishments by volunteers. Limnologist Seth Zimmermann represented the Hygienic Laboratory - a sponsor of the annual river cleanup - during ceremonies at the Department of the Interior's
Washington, D.C. office.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes (far left) presents the Outstanding State Volunteer Program to members of the Project AWARE representatives. Continuing from left are David Williamson, the artist who created the Project AWARE sculpture; Seth Zimmermann, UHL; Luke Wright, IDNR; Mary Skopec, IDNR; Lynette Seigley, IDNR; Jackie Gautsch, IDNR; Eric O'Brien, IDNR; and Brian Soenen, IDNR. Lisa Young (far right) is the executive director of Take Pride in America Award.

"It is a very prestigious award, and it was a real honor to represent the volunteers in DC," Zimmermann said.

The Department of Natural Resources' IOWATER and Iowa Water Trials program coordinate Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition). In addition to creating cleaner waterways, AWARE promotes awareness of water quality issues and provides an opportunity for Iowans to become stewards of the state's waterways.

Zimmermann, several other UHL limnologists and Lynn Aldridge, a chemist based in Ankeny, have worked on Project AWARE for several years.

"My favorite part of AWARE is the hard work and really getting things done," Zimmermann said. "It is such a worthwhile project, and at the end of the day, you can really see what can be done with a couple hundred volunteers with a real can-do spirit. We have the best volunteers around and when they come back year after year, you can really rely on the veterans to step up when needed."

The UHL team removes trash from a river during the 2007 Project AWARE.

Each summer, a different Iowa river is selected for the weeklong removal of debris. In the seven-year history of Project AWARE, some 1,500 participants have cleaned up more than 512 river miles and removed more than 140 tons of trash, 78 percent of which has been recycled.

More information is available at Take Pride in America.