IISG specialist Ashley Belle wins Extension Excellence Award

Posted December 4th, 2023 in Featured, Great Lakes Cleanup
Shibu Kar and Ashley Belle
Shibu Kar, left, IISG associate director, congratulates Ashley Belle, right, for her 2023 Extension Excellence Award. (Photo courtesy of University of Illinois Extension)

Ashley Belle, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC) specialist, was honored recently with a University of Illinois Extension (UIE) award in the category Individual Extension Excellence—Field-based Academic Professional (9 years or less). This, and other 2023 UIE awards, were presented in mid-November at the annual meeting.

Belle, who is located in the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, provides outreach and education to empower stakeholders in Great Lakes AOC communities to interpret and apply science and engineering-based information to sediment remediation projects.

This award encompasses Belle’s work with IISG since 2021 and during her previous position as an environmental and energy stewardship educator with Extension. The award criteria focused on service, organizational leadership, professional improvement, and teamwork participation. In her Sea Grant role, Belle has developed a variety of outreach products to inform AOC residents as their communities undergo environmental cleanup. 

Belle will likely display this award next to her two previous UIE awards—Interdisciplinary State Team Excellence in 2019 and Program Evaluation Excellence in 2020.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a partnership between NOAA, University of Illinois Extension, and Purdue University Forestry and Natural Resources, bringing science together with communities for solutions that work. Sea Grant is a network of 34 science, education and outreach programs located in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Lake Champlain, Puerto Rico and Guam.

IISG Instagram

Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

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Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective.

Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

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This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective. Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

Introducing the Lake Michigan Explorer!
Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action.

✨ What’s inside?
Lesson plans, fact sheets, and reading materials
Engaging videos and visualizations
Easy-to-use filters by grade level, topic, and time.
Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.

🔗 in bio for more.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 17993556791875462
Introducing the Lake Michigan Explorer! Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action. ✨ What’s inside?Lesson plans, fact sheets, and reading materialsEngaging videos and visualizationsEasy-to-use filters by grade level, topic, and time.Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.🔗 in bio for more.