A UF professor, a Gainesville artist and a local park will receive recognition for their work in environmental preservation.
The Rotary Club of Downtown Gainesville will have its second Water Stewardship Awards tonight, which will recognize UF environmental journalism professor Cynthia Barnett, artist Margaret Ross Tolbert and the Sweetwater Wetlands Park, which is overseen by Gainesville Regional Utilities. Each recipient has worked toward water conservation, club spokesman Rob Oglesby said.
"I think it’s an opportunity for the Rotary to honor those who are working so hard to create a positive environment for water conservation," he said.
Oglesby said about 50 people were invited to the event, which will take place at Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grille in downtown Gainesville. It will also include a wine tasting where half of the money made from tickets, which cost $40 each, will go toward honoring the people chosen for next year’s awards.
"They’re (the Rotary Club) very on top of water issues," Barnett, a UF journalism alumna, said. "That’s really important for water and climate change."
Barnett, who currently teaches environmental journalism at UF, has written three books about wetlands. Her most recent book, "Rain: A Natural and Cultural History," was nominated for the 2015 National Book Awards.
Barnett and Rick Hutton, a GRU supervising engineer, will both be there to accept their respective awards. The park is being acknowledged for its water-treatment measures with GRU.
Tolbert will not receive her award in person because she is currently in Turkey. The award specifically recognizes artwork that emphasizes the need to protect freshwater springs, Oglesby said.
"Their award and their programs help recognize the importance of water to all life and human culture," Tolbert wrote in an email.
Linda Demetropoulos first became interested in the wetlands when she learned about the invasive plant species in Miami wetlands.
Since then, Demetropoulos has become the nature manager for Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and manages several parks — including the Sweetwater Wetlands Park, a drain which filters into the Floridan aquifer. The park will receive an award for those water-treatment functions today.
"That park’s main goal is for water treatment, so it’s really built to improve water quality," she said. "It’s really important that it discharges clean water."
The water-treatment system sends water into the Alachua Sink, where it is filtered.
The park has only been in existence for a couple of years, she said. The park opened to the public in May and just opened up to the public full time in October.
"The park is a beautiful amenity," Demetropoulos said. "There are alligators, birds and such and up close and personal to look at."
She said the water treatment sets the park apart.
"There’s not another (park) in this area of the state," Demetropoulos said. "It was constructed to solve a problem, and it’s doing what it was meant to do."
-Sara Marino
Cynthia Barnett’s favorite part of her job is getting to travel the world and see new places.
After graduating with a journalism degree in 1989, the UF alumna wrote for multiple publications as an environmental journalist while traveling to Australia, Singapore and other countries.
Today at Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grille in downtown Gainesville, Barnett will be awarded a 2015 Water Stewardship Award by Gainesville’s Rotary Club for her work in environmental journalism and her books.
Barnett has written three books about the wetlands and is currently a UF professor of environmental journalism.
"I’m very grateful for the focus the Rotary brings to water," Barnett said. "Locally, they are one of the stand-out organizations that work tirelessly with developing issues and the water issues."
Since publishing her first book in 2007, Barnett has received multiple accolades for her writing, and her newest book, "Rain: A Natural and Cultural History," was nominated for the National Book Award for nonfiction.
"We live in a place that’s water abundant, and yet there is a water scarcity under your feet," Barnett said. "That’s why it’s important to know how to report and communicate about these issues to the public."
-Sara Marino
