by Rachel McGovern Communications and Outreach Manager Posted on
Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey is thrilled to announce the return of the redesigned Species on the Edge 2.0 contest for its second year! High school students from grades 9 to 12 across New Jersey are invited to join this exciting competition and stand a chance to win fabulous cash prizes.
Participants will gain invaluable skills in STEAM, environmental advocacy, design thinking, social and emotional learning, teamwork, critical thinking, and project management. It’s an amazing chance to learn, grow, and make a real impact!
How to Join the Fun:
Form a team of 2 to 6 students.
Choose a threatened or endangered species native to New Jersey.
Create an awesome video to raise public awareness and propose solutions to help restore our ecosystem
Still images from the First and Second Place team’s videos in the 2024 contest
Participants will be amazed by how many species are currently “on the edge” in New Jersey, the nation’s most densely populated state. Registered teams will receive a contest kit with all the guidelines and are invited to attend information sessions where they’ll explore various scenarios. Each team will take on the role of a research scientist, citizen scientist, engineer, policy maker, investigative reporter, college professor, non-profit director, or environmental artist. The creativity is endless!
by Rachel McGovern, Communications and Outreach Manager
Just off the coast of Island Beach State Park, you can find the Sedge Islands Marine Conservation Zone. This unique area is managed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and is home to a great number of wildlife species. Across this 1,900-acre preserve, one can find ospreys, rays, Northern diamondback terrapins, American oystercatchers, and many other incredible animals. Tucked away in this area is an island with a historic building that was once a duck hunting lodge but is now the Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center.
The Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center is located in the Sedge Islands Marine Conservation Zone.
Each year, winners of the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest are invited to the Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center (often referred to as simply “Sedge” or “Sedge Island”) to spend a day exploring the salt marsh. The Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest is held annually for fifth graders in New Jersey. To enter, students submit an original art piece and essay centered around an at-risk New Jersey species of their choice. A panel of judges chooses a winner from each county in New Jersey. A trip to Sedge Island is one of the ways that we celebrate the winners’ achievements. Winners of the 2024 contest and their adult chaperones were offered a choice of dates to join us for a trip to Sedge Island this summer.
Winners of the 22nd annual Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest gathered to celebrate their accomplishments at an awards ceremony on June 12, 2024, at Mercer County Wildlife Center in Lambertville, New Jersey.
The Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest is open each year to all fifth graders in New Jersey. To enter, students choose a threatened or endangered New Jersey species which they research and advocate for through an original essay and art piece. Earlier this year, a panel of judges convened to choose a first and second-place winner from each New Jersey county.
The ceremony was held outdoors at the Mercer County Wildlife Center
This year’s first-place winners joined CWF’s Executive Director, Liz Silvernail, and Director of Education, Rachel McGovern for their awards ceremony. Students received certificates and had their art and essays displayed for attendees to view. The winner from Mercer County (Vedika Krishna from Stony Brook Elementary School in Pennington) also received a special prize from Mercer County Park Commission’s Acting Executive Director, Joseph Pizza during the ceremony.
From left: Rachel McGovern, CWF Director of Education; Liz Silvernail, CWF Executive Director; Vedika Krishna, first-place winner from Mercer County; Joseph Pizza, Acting Executive Director of the Mercer County Park Commission
For more than twenty years, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey has been organizing the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest, inviting all fifth graders in New Jersey to participate. This year marked another successful run, with an array of imaginative and captivating submissions pouring in from all twenty-one counties. Each entry examined the plight of a threatened or endangered species native to New Jersey.
To take part in the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest, students must craft an original piece of handmade artwork and compose an essay responding to a provided prompt. Both components of their submission center around a single at-risk species from New Jersey. We typically find that some species are represented more than others. This year, the golden-winged warbler stood out with numerous striking artworks spotlighting this bird. Other frequently chosen species included the blue whale, bobcat, and red-headed woodpecker.
Blue Whale by Chelsea Li (Jefferson Elementary School, Union County)
Mercer County Wildlife Center Director Diane Nickerson, CWF Executive Director Liz Silvernail, CWF Board Member and Atlantic City Electric Environmental Manager Lisa Thomas, Mercer County Park Commission Deputy Director Joseph Pizza, and CWF Director of Education Rachel McGovern join the 2023 Species on the Edge Contest Winners.
Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey recognized the winners of the 21st annual Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest at an awards ceremony held at Mercer County Wildlife Center. The statewide educational contest empowers fifth graders to advocate for an endangered or threatened wildlife species through their research, artwork, and writing.
Each year, CWF hosts the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest for fifth grade students in New Jersey. Thousands of students submit artwork and essays advocating for the protection of a threatened or endangered New Jersey species of their choice. Winners of this contest attend field trips and events during their winning year and are invited to events for years after to continue learning about wildlife and related careers in New Jersey.
Past contest winners, along with a parent or guardian, gathered at The Raptor Trust’s education center to learn about avian rehabilitation.
Last month, a group of past contest winners braved the rain and cold to attend a special program and tour at The Raptor Trust in Millington, New Jersey. The Raptor Trust provides medical care and rehabilitation to injured and orphaned birds, leads educational programs to benefit native birds, and provides permanent homes to many non-releasable raptors.
Species on the Edge Winners Show Off their Art During the Awards Ceremony
The annual Species on the Edge Art and Essay Contest invites all fifth-grade students in New Jersey to choose a threatened or endangered animal species that lives in the state to celebrate with an essay and original art piece. We received thousands of submissions in 2022, but only one could be chosen from each county. The winners’ extraordinary artistic talent and thorough research secured their first-place positions.
An awards ceremony for those winners was held on August 23rd. The awards ceremony brought the winners, their loved ones, and teachers out for an afternoon at the Mercer County Wildlife Center. The ceremony took place outdoors near animal enclosures that hold non-releasable wildlife- some of the birds were even calling throughout the ceremony! Winners received their certificates and a gift bag to commemorate their achievements.
Red-headed Woodpecker by Anya Pole (Franklin Montessori School, Somerset County)
Thank You to Everyone Who Participated in the 2021 Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest
Congratulations to the hundreds of hardworking and creative 5th grade students who advocated for an endangered or threatened species from New Jersey through an art piece and essay. You have inspired everyone at Conserve Wildlife Foundation with your enthusiasm for protecting our cherished wildlife.
A view of Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center.
This past August, Species on the Edge Art & Essay winners and their parents joined Conserve Wildlife Foundation and New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife biologists at Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center for a day exploring New Jersey’s only marine conservation zone.
Thank You to Everyone Who Participated in the2021 Species on the Edge 2.0 Social Media Contest.
We at The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey would like to congratulate everyone who took part in this year’s contest on their hard work and creativity!
It was a delight for us to see the variety of ways you all were able to get the word out about New Jersey’s wildlife and the work we all can do to protect it. Your posts generated thousands of “likes” and views while spreading the positive message of wildlife conservation.
And after much deliberation, we are excited to announce our winners for the2021 Species On The Edge 2.0 Social Media Contest!
First Place Winner
Bennett Davenport
Moorestown, NJ
@TheBudgetMuseum
Bennett’s nature documentary approach to Species on the Edge with his show, The Budget Museum, brought a unique and engaging energy to this year’s contest. His fully produced videos about NJ’s ospreys showed a great deal of talent and hard work, while also grabbing viewer’s attention with humor and creativity. With a clear dedication and care for wildlife education, we hope to see Bennett continue his efforts to educate us about animals, both modern and prehistoric.
We’re so glad to name Bennett’s campaign this year’s winner for Species on the Edge 2.0.
Congratulations Bennett, and job well done!
Second Place
Anvitha Nekkanti
Parsippany, NJ
@ProtectThePipingPlovers
Anvitha’s series of posts about the piping plover were jam-packed with information and featured adorable artwork of the beach nesting birds and other shore fairing species. Her use of infographics, videos, and games made her posts a real multimedia extravaganza.
Third Place
Kaitlyn Chang
Fort Lee, NJ
@Kai_W_C
Kaityn’s digital painting timelapses of bobcats were breathtaking to watch and incredibly informative. Her passion and hard work made this series of posts a joy to watch and we’re excited to see where her artistic career takes her!
Runner-Up
Kayla Cotter
Manalapan, NJ
@BronzeCopperButterfly
Kayla’s series of posts were overflowing with info and drew a lot of attention. She utilized the platform to its fullest, making use of video, slides, hashtags, and games to spread the word about the bronze copper butterfly.
Congratulations to Bennett, Anvitha, Kaitlyn, and Kayla!
And thank you to all of our participants for putting your creativity to work to help New Jersey’s rare and imperiled wildlife.We hope you enjoyed getting to know some of these rare species better and hope you will stay involved in conservation.
A special thank you to contest sponsor PSEG Foundation.
