At BSU Earthweek activities COTE announced the receipients of its third annual awards program. The awards fall into two main catagories:

COTE Exemplar Awards recognize individuals or groups with significant accomplishments promoting the sustainable use of natural resources or the protection of ecological systems. Individuals who have a record of continual significant achivements are further recognized by the awarding of a "COTE Exemplar Lifetime Achievement Award".

COTE Green Initiative Awards recognize everyday activites, decisions or contributions that help to move Ball State University toward sustainability. Their purpose is to reward discrete contributions rather than a history of multiple accomplishments.

This year's recipients were as follows:

COTE Exemplar Lifetime Achievement Awards

John Bundy

John Bundy is the proprietor of Bundy and Company, producer and creator of wildlife decoys. Together with his wife Valerie, Don Watson, and Steve and Lori Swartz, John founded White River Rescue 2000 -- a response to the 1999 White River Fish Kill.

This group worked tirelessly to raise over $130,000.00 for the restocking of 50 miles of river that had lost every living fish in a chemical spill. John personally located fisheries that could supply game fish for restocking, and coordinated their effort with IDNR.

John has served as a member of the White River Advisory Council since 2001. This council has oversight of the spending of $6 million for projects that will restore and enhance the White River Corridor in the kill zone.

John has spoken extensively to schools and community groups to raise awareness of water quality issues, especially surrounding the White River fish kill. John spearheaded and coordinated the clean-up of the Moss Island Dump, an old community dump on the west side of Anderson, using funds from the Fish Kill Fund, and he coordinated the clean up of the Joyce Avenue dump in Hamilton County. John continues to make stewardship of the White River his second day job and often his evening job as well.

Jim and Helen Cope

In 1948, Jim and Helen Cope purchased about 30 acres of farm land between Centerville and Richmond and began planting a variety of trees, shrubs, and other plants. They pursued a sustainable lifestyle which involved the use of alternative energy, energy conservation, composting, and organic gardening. During their years of teaching, Jim at Earlham College and Helen at Centerville Junior-Senior High School, the property was the site of many field trips. Over the years, the collections of deciduous trees and conifers have matured and achieved regional significance in size and diversity. At the same time their knowledge and insight regarding the many ways to conserve natural resources and live a sustainable lifestyle grew.

In 1992, Jim and Helen partnered with their friend Francis Parks, a dedicated botanist, horticulturist, and conservationist, to create the Francis Parks Foundation and the Cope Environmental Center to give permanent protection to this valuable piece of land and to teach others what they had learned. As a not-for-profit organization, Cope Environmental Center provides education, research, and demonstrations that inspire and challenge individuals and communities to achieve an ecologically sustainable lifestyle for the future of all life on earth.

Ted Levin

Ted Levin, a 1970 Ball State University Biology alumnus, is the 2004 John Burroughs Medal Winner nature author for his book Liquid Land: A Journey Through the Florida Everglades. Mr. Levin is a naturalist, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in Audubon, Sierra, Sports Illustrated, and National Geographic Traveler. Other works include Backtracking: The Way of the Naturalist, Blood Brook: A Naturalist’s Home Ground and Sawgrass Poems: A View of the Everglades. Following his studies at Ball State, Mr. Levin completed a M.Sc. in Environmental Science at the Antioch New England Graduate School. He has worked in several nature-related jobs including positions at the Bronx Zoo and teaching at New England College and University of New Hampshire. He has lectured around the country, provided nature tours at many diverse locations, and is an accomplished photographer.

Tom Smith

Tom Smith has provided strong advocacy of campus reforestation and tree documentation, support of bicycle use through installation of bicycle racks campus-wide, creation of the Environmental Health and Safety Department, establishment of new storm water and sewage management practices, installation of underground services which have contributed to the implementation of the campus master plan. And he has served on the Community Connections Committee of the City/County Planning Commission.


COTE Exemplar Achievement Awards

Barb Stedman

Barb Stedman has worked with students examining Indiana’s rich heritage of environmental literature, developing "Our Land, Our Literature" as a web encyclopedia which showcases those findings. In addition, she and her students undertook an environmental restoration project in the Limberlost Wetlands, an experience which allowed students to write their own environmental literature for the encyclopedia.


COTE Green Initiative Awards

Robert Bacon: in recognition of his active service as Chair of the Environmental Action Team (EAT) for the Department of Housing and Residence Life.

Amanda Clewis: in recognition of her initiation of recycling legislation endorsed by the Student Government Association and for her work in securing an agreement from university Facilities Management and Planning to acquire recycling containers for use campus-wide.

Louis George: in recognition of his efforts to establish the use of biodiesel fuel in the Ball State University vehicle fleet and for his involvement in the acquisition of a prototype hybrid-electric shuttle bus for on-campus use.

Lina Gordy: in recognition of her active support of program offerings and outreach to Ball State University as Executive Director of the Cope Environmental Center.

Stephanie Hays-Mussoni: in recognition of her work for the Cope Environmental Center including summer pre K-8 programs and Earth Day Celebrations, as well as spring and fall field trips for East Central Indiana student audiences.

MITS, J.B. Black: in recognition of making public transportation throughout the community available at no cost to Ball State University students and employees.

John Motloch: in recognition of his role in establishing the US-Brazil Sustainability Consortium.

John Taylor: in recognition of his continuing work as a member of the Five Rivers Group of the local Sierra Club and for service as the Land Manager for the Field Station and Environmental Education Center.

Ben Tietz: in recognition of his initiation of recycling legislation endorsed by the Student Government Association and for his work in securing an agreement from university Facilities Management and Planning to acquire recycling containers for use campus-wide.

Sue Weller: in recognition of her efforts to establish the use of biodiesel fuel in the Ball State University vehicle fleet and for her involvement in the acquisition of a prototype hybrid-electric shuttle bus for on-campus use.

Kelly Wiese: in recognition of her organization of Earth Week events, as well as involvement in the ecological restoration and control of invasive species at the Field Station and Environmental Center at Ball State University.