CARY — Water educator Lauren Daniel of Swansboro and fly-fishing guide Tom Roller of Beaufort picked up their previously announced conservation honors Sept. 10 from the N.C. Wildlife Federation.
Daniel, water education program manager with the N.C. Division of Water Resources, is Environmental Educator of the Year. Roller, owner and operator of WaterDog Guide Service, is Marine Conservationist of the Year.
They were among the 19 agency professionals, elected officials, volunteers and organizations honored at the 58th Annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards banquet in Cary. NCWF Board Chair John Hairr and Deputy Secretary Jeff Michael with the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources presented honorees with custom-made wildlife statuettes following a thank-you video message from Gov. Roy Cooper.
Banquet EMC and NCWF Awards Chair T. Edward Nickens said of Daniel, “We are so fortunate to have folks like Daniel at the helm of so much of the critical, nitty-gritty work of conservation and environmental education.
“In her current role as water education program manager for N.C. Division of Water Resources, Daniel is state coordinator and facilitator trainer for North Carolina Project WET, state coordinator for the ‘It’s Our Water’ high school curriculum; state coordinator for NC Stream Watch, co-coordinator of the N.C. Climate Education Network, creator and coordinator of N.C. Water Education Virtual Coffee Talks, and coordinator and contact for North Carolina Creek Week Network,” Nickens continued.
“Just this past April, there was an Earth Day celebration stream cleanup with Department of Environmental Quality employees at John Chavis Memorial Park in Raleigh. Gov. Cooper, state leaders and volunteers removed 3,018 pounds of trash in and near the stream running through the 29-acre site and downtown Raleigh.”
Daniel said she was honored.
“I’m here as an environmental educator, but I’m also a very, very prideful North Carolinian,” she said. “I grew up in north Raleigh, trouncing in the streams that are now underneath I-540. It’s overwhelming and wonderful to be in this room with a bunch of underdogs fighting the good fight to recognize the value of our natural resources.
“I’m hopeful for the things I see when I go and visit the classrooms and visit with the teachers. Have y’all ever taken a group of kids out to a storm drain on a playground? I had to stand over that storm drain and help them realize that the storm drain is not going to a magical filter. It’s going to the stream in the back of their campus.
“It was a powerful moment,” she continued. “I encourage everyone to inspire kids to look around and see what’s happening right under their feet. We’re very lucky to have so many water resources in our state. Not everyone gets that across our country. We have a wonderful place that we get to live and play and work. I encourage everyone to be your own environmental educator in your own community and neighborhoods. Get those kids out there, playing in the streams, looking for some cadence flies and macro and vertebrates – it’s like Christmas right there.”
Of Roller, Nickens said, “Tom Roller has operated WaterDog Guide Service out of Beaufort for 20 years, and he has dedicated his career to fighting for North Carolina’s beleaguered marine resources. Since 2013, he’s been on advisory committees focusing on bluefish, cobia, mackerel, flounder and blue crab. He’s served on both the Mid-Atlantic and South-Atlantic Fisheries Management Councils, and next year he will begin his second term on the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission. He’s a founding board member of the American Saltwater Guides Association and a former executive board member, and current Life Member of the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina.”
And, Nickens said, “As a fishing guide, Roller is committed to passing along a conservation ethic. For him, that’s just as important as teaching an angler how to tie a double uni knot or set the hook on a sheepshead. And Roller does all of this as a volunteer. Every hour and every day spent in committee meetings is a day he’s not on the water—which means that it’s an hour or a day that he’s not on the time clock. So, Roller’s commitment isn’t his alone. His family is a part of his dedication, as well.”
Roller said he has dedicated his entire life to the state’s marine resources, “working as a fishing guide and volunteering as an advocate for a healthier and better future for our marine ecosystems. And it’s no secret that our marine resources face challenges and that marine fisheries management is often messy and difficult as it involves many stakeholder groups of economic interest.
“But I’ve been guided by a basic philosophy that healthy fisheries take care of their fishermen in the communities that depend upon them. Being an advocate and arguing for more proactive management can be a challenge. When I was appointed to the state fisheries commission and later the federal top Atlantic management council, I came prepared for controversy, but that was not what I’ve experienced. It’s been the opposite, and most people have been overwhelmingly supportive … that I do more, fight harder and speak louder for healthier and more abundant resources. Change is difficult, but I leave you with that optimism because the voice of conservation is strong.”
First presented in 1958, the Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards are the highest natural resource honors given in the state. The annual program brings together diverse conservationists to highlight wildlife conservation achievements and inspire others to take a more active role in protecting North Carolina’s natural resources for future generations.
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