Education Notes

Texas Envirothon 2025: Event Recap

By Jinx Uribe, Education Intern

Texas Envirothon was a tremendous success again this year, thanks to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. Coordinated by the Environmental Institute of Houston and hosted by Long Acres Ranch, this year's event brought together some of the brightest high schoolers from across the state to take on the environmental challenge. We are proud to be sending the Green Dragons from South Texas ISD Science Academy to Calgary, Alberta, to compete in the NCF-Envirothon. Congratulations to these outstanding students for their accomplishments.

Envirothon is a nationwide competition that allows students to deepen their knowledge and practical skills in environmental science. In the Texas Envirothon, we include current events and local ecology. This year, 13 teams were tested on five key areas: Aquatic Ecology, Forestry, Soils and Land Use, Wildlife, and a Current Environmental Issue, which in 2025 is resilience in the face of climate change. In addition to a field test, students also prepare an oral presentation outlining their approach to a real-world environmental issue.

On Saturday, the first day of the three-day event, students took part in skill-building workshops and expert-led lectures on the five key topic areas. Storms forced a last-minute change to our planned field trip to the James B. Harrison Long Point Ranch, but education director Hannah Muegge and her volunteers rallied to bring the experience to us instead. Sessions covering the history of the ranch, local birdlife, hands-on plant identification, and hands-on aquatic invertebrate identification were a hit with the students and helped to mitigate their disappointment.

Scenes from Day 1: Students engaged in hands-on activities and workshops covering key environmental topics.

The second day (Sunday) included a morning field test and team presentations in the afternoon. The oral presentation scenario was a real-world case based on a local ranch that asked students to consider both current stewardship challenges at the property and potential impacts of climate change.

Scenes from Day 2: Teams tackled the field test and delivered their oral presentations to panels of judges.

On day three, Monday, the students gathered at the University of Houston-Clear Lake for the final round of presentations. The top three scoring teams—based on a combination of the field test and presentation scores—were announced and presented again, this time in front of their peers and a new panel of judges. The new presentation scores determined the final placements. The day wrapped up with an awards ceremony, followed by a delicious catered meal.

Beyond the competition, Texas Envirothon opens doors, offering students valuable exposure to real-world careers in environmental science and opportunities to connect with professionals from across the state. Experts from Texas Parks and Wildlife and Stephen F. Austin State University volunteered their time and expertise, including developing test questions. The EIH team—Wendy Reistle, Rowena McDermid, Debbie Bush, and interns Loralei Miller and Jinx Uribe—are grateful to James Page and Scott Lightle from Long Acres Ranch who went above and beyond to help bring all the moving pieces together, as well as all the volunteers, presenters, test writers, and scorers who helped make this year's Texas Envirothon a success.

A special thank-you to our Pileated Woodpecker Level Sponsor, CenterPoint Energy, for their generous support and commitment to environmental education. Here’s to another successful year of fostering environmental leadership and inspiring the next generation of changemakers. We can’t wait to see what Texas Envirothon 2026 brings!