Karla Klay receives TogetherGreen Fellowship award

by Matt Russell | June 23, 2012 11:14 am

Galveston-based art educator and conservationist Karla Klay was awarded the TogetherGreen fellowship.

Klay was recognized for her work in leading conservation, habitat restoration and environmental education activities on Galveston Island and Galveston Bay.

TogetherGreen, a conservation initiative of the National Audubon Society and Toyota, selects 40 local leaders annually to receive a $10,000 grant. Funds pay for community projects to engage diverse audiences in habitat, water or energy conservation.

In addition to receiving support-launching initiatives, award winners benefit from specialized training and the opportunity to become part of an alumni network of conservation professionals.

“Karla is an environmental hero. She and the other TogetherGreen fellows help people engage with nature,” said David Yarnold, Audubon Society president, in a press release. “Karla is a leader and we’re pleased to give her a chance to invent the future.”

Klay’s TogetherGreen fellowship project is an extension of the non-profit Artist Boat’s mission to creatively engage the tourism industry in programs to provide education and outreach to employees of the tourism community.

She is planning a series of outreach activities for tourism employees, from kayak adventures to habitat restoration to planning conservation and education initiatives.

“It is important to engage this sector of the Galveston Island citizenry, who are typically underserved in the conservation community,” Klay said in the release. “They are vital to environmental quality on our barrier island and they have access to millions of visitors who can improve the environmental quality on a much bigger scale on the Gulf of Mexico.”

To date, 200 environmental leaders from across the country have been awarded TogetherGreen fellowships. These leaders have worked with nearly 500 organizations and engaged more than 100,000 people in community-based conservation action.

For more information, visit togethergreen.org/fellows.