2020 OurEcho Challenge Winners

1st Place - Team Crayfish
‍Medea Creek Middle School (Oak Park, CA)
Creating sustainable fishing practices for the removal of an invasive crayfish species. Grant Prize: $10,000.

2nd Place - Team Super Plants
Proof School (San Francisco, CA)
Creating community gardens filled with plants with "supercharged" roots to help sequester carbon dioxide to combat climate change. Grant Prize: $5,000.

3rd Place - Team Aquabotics
Bednarcik Junior High School (Aurora, IL)
Designing a robot to locate and collect debris in a local pond, with the ultimate goal of creating a network of autonomous, self-sustaining robots to keep water systems and oceans clean. Grant Prize: $2,000.

Congratulations to the 2020 Finalists!

International Bird Hotel Developers
Brooks Middle School (Oak Park, IL)
Creating a variety of innovative habitats to attract native, migratory bird species to their local area.

Invasive Ivy Squad
Montessori Children's House (Redmond, WA)
Developing an invasive ivy removal plan, which will allow native plant species to thrive.

California Native Bees
Medea Creek Middle School (Oak Park, CA)
Restoring native bee populations by planting gardens that will attract the bees back to the community.

Prairie Protectors
Bednarcik Junior High School (Aurora, IL)
Developing plans for rain gardens to mitigate flooding problems while creating important habitats for a variety of plant and animal species.

Pollinator Paper
Bednarcik Junior High School (Aurora, IL)
Creating habitats for pollinators (e.g., bees, butterflies) by planting gardens in their community using specially designed seed paper greeting cards.

Swamp Stompers
Coventry Middle School (Akron, OH)
Propagating native plant species to replace the invasive species that threaten the native plants within critical bog habitats in Ohio.

Plastic Free NC’s Green Team
Love A Sea Turtle (Greenville, NC)
Designing "floating islands" to help increase habitats and biodiversity in local ponds, lakes and streams.