Local Events and News

The Spring 2008 Chuck Glore Memorial Scholarship Recipients are:

Texas A&M University at Galveston: Mary Elizabeth Trevino

Sponsor:  Dr. Frederick Schlemmer II

Ms. Trevino is a graduate student in the Master of Marine Resources Management Program at TAMUG. Her grade point average was reported as "the maximum."

        Stephen F. Austin State University: Elizabeth Bowen

Sponsor:  Dr. Kenneth Farrish

Ms. Bowen is a first year graduate student at Stephen F. Austin State University. Her Major is in Environmental Science with a minor in Geographic Information Systems. She is also a Chemistry student and serves as a Teaching Assistant for the Introductory Undergraduate Course in Environmental Science. Her GPA is 4.0 and she is planning on doing her research in air quality.

        University of Houston Main Campus: Ashleigh Williams

Sponsor:  Dr. Vita Como

Ms. Williams is a senior in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Houston, Cullen College of Engineering. She is an honor student, an athlete, and a member of numerous organizations. She plans to pursue a Master of Environmental Engineering upon completion of her Bachelor of Civil Engineering. She desires to concentrate on water and wastewater treatment as she pursues her goal of working toward solving the world's water and water quality problems.

Thoughts on Envirothon from a former contestant . . .

Spending hours memorizing the behavior and plumage of all the state’s birds, working under the Texas sun to finish all the questions in the allotted time period, charging through the forests in Manitoba so as not to lose time in transit; these are all memories that I have from Envirothon.  Among them are other memories: giving my first presentation to a big crowd at Canon Envirothon, making lasting friendships with students from different schools across the continent, and truly bonding with my team.

All of these memories and more are why Envirothon had such a profound impact on me.  So much so that when I came to Rice University in Houston, Texas, somewhat undecided on what my major was going to be, I was instantly drawn to the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology classes.  After only weeks of class, I knew that was what I wanted to do.

I am now in my second year of college and completely love my choice of major.  It is undeniable that Envirothon was the main factor in helping me decide what to pursue, and it has also helped me a lot along the way.

In my first field work assignment ever, I spent three hours a week watching a pond and identifying all the birds that came to it.  Luckily, Envirothon had already trained me for this.  When I had to take a public speaking class, the extemporaneous speaking assignment was a complete breeze after the timed oral presentations of Envirothon.

I definitely believe that Envirothon was the most important experience I had in high school in terms of preparing me for college and a future beyond that.  Now my hope is that one day I’ll be able to give back what was given to me and help the next group of Envirothon scholars learn the life lessons I did from this incredibly valuable, and incredibly fun, event.

Melisa Pferdehirt
Sophomore at Rice University
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Major
Envirothon Alumni – Texas State Competition 3 years
Canon Envirothon 2 years (2005 and 2006)

July 10, 2007

Effective today, the East Harris County Manufacturers Association (EHCMA) has implemented several improvements to its public CAER Line (281-476-2237). The improvements were made based on feedback from several Community Advisory Councils/Panels and EHCMA members.

1. The menus have been shortened to be more user-friendly. Callers now have three choices: to listen to the latest CAER Line messages in English, in Spanish, or to report an odor to EHCMA's Odor Network. Previously, callers had to listen to all of the CAER Line messages before they could report an odor. Now, the Odor Network is available from the Main Menu.

2. Any emergency messages are automatically played first, then all non-emergency or general information messages are played next. Previously, some callers who heard that emergency messages were posted on the CAER Line hung up without waiting to hear other messages that might have affected them. Because the public may perceive any plant incident as an emergency, callers will now hear all messages played back-to-back without interruption. Callers can fast forward or skip past any message that doesn't apply to them by pressing the star (*) key at anytime.

3. Information about local community warning systems and how to Shelter In Place is now available to callers after they have listened to the latest CAER Line messages.

No changes were made to the internal system that the 143 plants and 13 city/county offices of emergency management that can currently to post messages to the CAER Line on a 24/7 basis. Plants do not need to be EHCMA members to use the CAER Line. The CAER Line is provided as a free public service by EHCMA.

CAER stands for Community Awareness and Emergency Response, but because some people may spell it as CARE, you can also reach the CAER Line by calling 281-476-CARE (2273).

The CAER Line can handle up to 400 incoming calls simultaneously during an emergency. Last year a total of 1,007 messages were posted on the CAER Line that received 13,929 calls in 2006.

I invite you to call the CAER Line at 281-476-CAER (2237) so you can listen to the new improvements yourself. You can e-mail your comments to: caerline@ehcma.com

Additional information is available online: http://www.ehcma.com/caerline.htm