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Updated May 28 2021
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Announcing Winners of the 2021 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest
April 6, 2021 – (Albuquerque, New Mexico) – The Leopold Writing Program is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest. Students from around New Mexico in Grades 6-12 entered this year’s contest. The First Place essayists in three grade categories receive a $500 cash prize, and the Overall Best Essay Winner receives an additional $250 award.
Dylan Como-Mosconi, an eighth-grade student at Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe, won the First Place Award in Grade Category 8-9, and was also the winner of the David E. Stuart Humanitarian Prize for Overall Best Essay. Honorable Mention award winners are Charles Chapman, Grade 8 at Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe; and Karen Zhang, Grade 9 at Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque.
In the Grade Category 6-7, Pippa Barrett, a sixth-grader at Journey Montessori Middle School, Santa Fe, was the winning essayist. Honorable Mentions were awarded to Mia Schleman, a seventh-grader at Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe; and Inez Castillo, in Grade 6 at Amy Biehl Community School, Santa Fe.
Brianna Xie, a Grade 12 student at Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, was First Place in the Grade Category 10-12. Honorable Mention award winners are Ryan Jaden Jim and Maggi Van Drunen, both in Grade 10 at Rehoboth Christian School in Rehoboth, New Mexico.
The Annual Leopold Writing Contest asks students to submit original essays in response to a writing prompt. This year's topic was: As the novel coronavirus spread in 2020, we needed to stay home. We had to turn back to familiar landscapes, reacquaint ourselves with our yards and neighborhoods, and look more closely at our own skies and landscapes. Using Aldo Leopold’s land ethic as a guidepost, think about lessons we can learn from staying home. What acts of creation – be that as poet or as planter – did you unexpectedly find yourself taking up, and how did your creations build on some of New Mexico’s senses of dwelling with the Earth, such as querencia, kinship, acequias, and aridity
With in-person schooling curtailed in the state, the number of entries for Leopold Writing Contest was lower than in previous years, but several dozen quality essays were received for evaluation by a panel of dedicated volunteer judges: Niveditha Bala, Pita Hopkins, Dara Johnson, Deborah Krichels, Janene Mondragon, Mario Montoya, and Katherine Wilson.
Dylan Como-Mosconi, an eighth-grade student at Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe, won the First Place Award in Grade Category 8-9, and was also the winner of the David E. Stuart Humanitarian Prize for Overall Best Essay. Honorable Mention award winners are Charles Chapman, Grade 8 at Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe; and Karen Zhang, Grade 9 at Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque.
In the Grade Category 6-7, Pippa Barrett, a sixth-grader at Journey Montessori Middle School, Santa Fe, was the winning essayist. Honorable Mentions were awarded to Mia Schleman, a seventh-grader at Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe; and Inez Castillo, in Grade 6 at Amy Biehl Community School, Santa Fe.
Brianna Xie, a Grade 12 student at Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, was First Place in the Grade Category 10-12. Honorable Mention award winners are Ryan Jaden Jim and Maggi Van Drunen, both in Grade 10 at Rehoboth Christian School in Rehoboth, New Mexico.
The Annual Leopold Writing Contest asks students to submit original essays in response to a writing prompt. This year's topic was: As the novel coronavirus spread in 2020, we needed to stay home. We had to turn back to familiar landscapes, reacquaint ourselves with our yards and neighborhoods, and look more closely at our own skies and landscapes. Using Aldo Leopold’s land ethic as a guidepost, think about lessons we can learn from staying home. What acts of creation – be that as poet or as planter – did you unexpectedly find yourself taking up, and how did your creations build on some of New Mexico’s senses of dwelling with the Earth, such as querencia, kinship, acequias, and aridity
With in-person schooling curtailed in the state, the number of entries for Leopold Writing Contest was lower than in previous years, but several dozen quality essays were received for evaluation by a panel of dedicated volunteer judges: Niveditha Bala, Pita Hopkins, Dara Johnson, Deborah Krichels, Janene Mondragon, Mario Montoya, and Katherine Wilson.
Winners of the 2020 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest Announced
Read the article in the Albuquerque Journal
| 2020_writingcontestabqjournalarticle_4.24.20.pdf |
Press Release - March 30, 2020
Albuquerque, New Mexico – The Leopold Writing Program announced the winners of the 2020 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest today. Two hundred three (203) students from New Mexico in grades 6-12 entered this year’s contest, which asked students to submit original essays in response to the following question: How might reuniting our understanding of “ecology” and “economy” help solve today’s environmental problems?
William D. Nordhaus, an Albuquerque native and the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Economics, was scheduled to present the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest Awards to the winning student essayists, and also deliver the 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture at the KiMo Theatre on April 20th. Because of the public health emergency, that event has been postponed indefinitely, and the students will receive their awards individually.
In the 10th-12th grade category, Matthew Oschwald, a 10th grade student at Estancia Valley Classical Academy, is the winning essayist, and also the winner of the David E. Stuart Humanitarian Prize for overall best essay. Honorable mention award winners include (in alphabetical order): Isabella Clark, an 11th grade student at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe; Mireya Sanchez-Maes, a 12th grade student at Mayfield High School in Las Cruces; and Sloan Tafoya, a 10th grade student San Juan College High School in Farmington.
In the 8th-9th grade category, Merrick Word-Brown, an 8th grade student at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences, is the winning essayist. Honorable mention award winners include (in alphabetical order): Akansha Nanda, an 8th grade student at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe; and Maggi Van Drunen, an 8th grade student at Rehoboth Christian High School in Rehoboth.
In the 6th-7th grade category, Avery Bell, a 7th grade student at the Taos Integrated School of the Arts, is the winning essayist. Honorable mention award winners include (in alphabetical order): Dylan Como-Mosconi, a 7th grade student at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe; Ruben Cuesta Ray, a 7th grade student at the Monte del Sol Charter School in Santa Fe; and Claire Johnston, a 7th grade student at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe.
Albuquerque, New Mexico – The Leopold Writing Program announced the winners of the 2020 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest today. Two hundred three (203) students from New Mexico in grades 6-12 entered this year’s contest, which asked students to submit original essays in response to the following question: How might reuniting our understanding of “ecology” and “economy” help solve today’s environmental problems?
William D. Nordhaus, an Albuquerque native and the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Economics, was scheduled to present the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest Awards to the winning student essayists, and also deliver the 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture at the KiMo Theatre on April 20th. Because of the public health emergency, that event has been postponed indefinitely, and the students will receive their awards individually.
In the 10th-12th grade category, Matthew Oschwald, a 10th grade student at Estancia Valley Classical Academy, is the winning essayist, and also the winner of the David E. Stuart Humanitarian Prize for overall best essay. Honorable mention award winners include (in alphabetical order): Isabella Clark, an 11th grade student at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe; Mireya Sanchez-Maes, a 12th grade student at Mayfield High School in Las Cruces; and Sloan Tafoya, a 10th grade student San Juan College High School in Farmington.
In the 8th-9th grade category, Merrick Word-Brown, an 8th grade student at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences, is the winning essayist. Honorable mention award winners include (in alphabetical order): Akansha Nanda, an 8th grade student at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe; and Maggi Van Drunen, an 8th grade student at Rehoboth Christian High School in Rehoboth.
In the 6th-7th grade category, Avery Bell, a 7th grade student at the Taos Integrated School of the Arts, is the winning essayist. Honorable mention award winners include (in alphabetical order): Dylan Como-Mosconi, a 7th grade student at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe; Ruben Cuesta Ray, a 7th grade student at the Monte del Sol Charter School in Santa Fe; and Claire Johnston, a 7th grade student at Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe.
The 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture scheduled for April 20th is postponed due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. We hope to reschedule the event and will keep you posted with additional information. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this.
Nobel Laureate William D. Nordhaus Returns to Albuquerque
to Talk About his Work in Climate Change in 4th Annual Leopold Lecture
March 5, 2020
Albuquerque, New Mexico ─ William D. Nordhaus, an Albuquerque native and the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Economics, will deliver the 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture “Skiing and Fishing on a Hot Planet” at 7 pm on April 20 at the KiMo Theatre. Tickets, which are $10 for general admission and $6 for students, are available at https://www.kimotickets.com/event/354678/4th-annual-leopold-lecture.
Nordhaus will also present awards to winners of the 2020 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest (grades 6 –12) who submitted essays in response to the following question: How might reuniting our understanding of “ecology” and “economy” help solve today’s environmental crisis? This year’s essay topic honors the work of both Aldo Leopold, considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology, and William Nordhaus.
“We are incredibly honored that William D. Nordhaus will deliver the 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture, and also present the awards to our winning student essayists,” said Anthony Anella, the founder and president of The Leopold Writing Program. “How inspiring for the students to receive their awards from a Nobel Laureate in Economics who had the insight to study climate change’s impact on the global economy in the 1970s,” Anella added.
Long before many economists were thinking about climate issues, Nordhaus began work on creating a quantitative model that describes the global interplay between the economy and climate. Nordhaus, a Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, also serves as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and is past president of the American Economic Association. His research has encompassed environmental economics, climate change, health economics, augmented national accounting, the political business cycle, and productivity. He was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on climate-change economics.
This year’s sponsors of The Annual Leopold Lecture include The Leopold Writing Program, the Taos Ski Valley
Charitable Fund at the Taos Community Foundation, the University of New Mexico Department of Economics, the
USDA Forest Service, the Golden Apple Foundation of NM, and NUSENDA Credit Union.
Albuquerque, New Mexico ─ William D. Nordhaus, an Albuquerque native and the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Economics, will deliver the 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture “Skiing and Fishing on a Hot Planet” at 7 pm on April 20 at the KiMo Theatre. Tickets, which are $10 for general admission and $6 for students, are available at https://www.kimotickets.com/event/354678/4th-annual-leopold-lecture.
Nordhaus will also present awards to winners of the 2020 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest (grades 6 –12) who submitted essays in response to the following question: How might reuniting our understanding of “ecology” and “economy” help solve today’s environmental crisis? This year’s essay topic honors the work of both Aldo Leopold, considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology, and William Nordhaus.
“We are incredibly honored that William D. Nordhaus will deliver the 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture, and also present the awards to our winning student essayists,” said Anthony Anella, the founder and president of The Leopold Writing Program. “How inspiring for the students to receive their awards from a Nobel Laureate in Economics who had the insight to study climate change’s impact on the global economy in the 1970s,” Anella added.
Long before many economists were thinking about climate issues, Nordhaus began work on creating a quantitative model that describes the global interplay between the economy and climate. Nordhaus, a Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, also serves as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and is past president of the American Economic Association. His research has encompassed environmental economics, climate change, health economics, augmented national accounting, the political business cycle, and productivity. He was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on climate-change economics.
This year’s sponsors of The Annual Leopold Lecture include The Leopold Writing Program, the Taos Ski Valley
Charitable Fund at the Taos Community Foundation, the University of New Mexico Department of Economics, the
USDA Forest Service, the Golden Apple Foundation of NM, and NUSENDA Credit Union.
Call for Entries - 2020 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest
Annual Aldo Leopold Writing Contest Invites NM Students to Submit Essays
Albuquerque Native & Nobel Laureate William D. Nordhaus to Present Contest Awards
CLICK HERE for the COMPLETE PROMPT along with the ENTRY FORM.
CLICK HERE for WRITING CONTEST FLYER.
The 2020 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest encourages New Mexico students in grades 6-12 to submit original essays in response to the following question: How might reuniting our understanding of “ecology” and “economy” help solve today’s environmental problems?
Cash prizes will be awarded to the winning essayists in each of three grade categories: 6-7, 8-9, and 10-12. Submissions are accepted through February 21, 2020.
This year’s essay topic honors the work of both Aldo Leopold, considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology, and William D. Nordhaus, an Albuquerque native and the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Economics. Nordhaus will present the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest Awards to the winning student essayists, and also deliver the 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture.
In the 1970s, long before many economists were thinking about climate issues, Nordhaus began work on creating a quantitative model that describes the global interplay between the economy and climate. Nordhaus is Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Yale and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Albuquerque Native & Nobel Laureate William D. Nordhaus to Present Contest Awards
CLICK HERE for the COMPLETE PROMPT along with the ENTRY FORM.
CLICK HERE for WRITING CONTEST FLYER.
The 2020 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest encourages New Mexico students in grades 6-12 to submit original essays in response to the following question: How might reuniting our understanding of “ecology” and “economy” help solve today’s environmental problems?
Cash prizes will be awarded to the winning essayists in each of three grade categories: 6-7, 8-9, and 10-12. Submissions are accepted through February 21, 2020.
This year’s essay topic honors the work of both Aldo Leopold, considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology, and William D. Nordhaus, an Albuquerque native and the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Economics. Nordhaus will present the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest Awards to the winning student essayists, and also deliver the 2020 Annual Leopold Lecture.
In the 1970s, long before many economists were thinking about climate issues, Nordhaus began work on creating a quantitative model that describes the global interplay between the economy and climate. Nordhaus is Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University and holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Yale and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Please join us at the Annual Leopold Lecture & Writing Contest Award Ceremony - April 27, 2019
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April 19, 2019
3RD ANNUAL LEOPOLD LECTURE and WRITING CONTEST AWARD CEREMONY THE PARABLE OF CHACO 1 PM SATURDAY 27 APRIL 2019 AT THE HIBBEN CENTER ON THE UNM CAMPUS FEATURING David Stuart, an internationally recognized anthropologist whose most cited books are Prehistoric New Mexico, Anasazi America, The Ancient Southwest, and Pueblos People of the Pajarito Plateau. He earned his PhD in anthropology from the University of New Mexico and served many years at UNM as associate provost for academic affairs. Dr. Stuart served as acting president of the School for Advanced Research (SAR) and has been a lecturer at SAR and in Edinburgh, London, Mexico City, and at the Sorbonne in Paris. The Annual Leopold Lecture features a distinguished environmental thinker who inspires audiences to explore today's critical environmental issues. Each lecturer joins the growing network of writers and respected leaders who have been touched by the Leopold Writing Program. The Annual Leopold Lecturer also presents the awards to the 6th-12th grade winners of the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest, completing the intergenerational nature of the Leopold Writing Program. |
7th Annual Aldo and Estella Leopold Residency 2018
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TRES PIEDRAS – For the seventh year, the Leopold Writing Program will open up Aldo and Estella Leopold’s home, Mi Casita, for month-long residencies and a public presentation in Taos by established and emerging writers in the environmental and ecological fields.
Three writers will come to Mi Casita in May, July and October, respectively, this year. Each will make a presentation at the Harwood Art Museum as part of a community outreach agreement between the Leopold Writing Program and the USDA Forest Service, which owns Mi Casita. The LWP 2018 Residents are: In May, Matthew Barnes, a land manager who believes wildlife and domestic livestock can co-exist. He calls for “cultivating wildness and whole-systems resilience on ranches and public land,” a philosophy he has put to work as a manager of several ranches in the West and plans to enhance with writing during his residency. In July, Matthew Jones, an adjunct professor in English in Cincinnati. His focus during the month of July at Mi Casita will be a book of essays. The essays center on Jones’ belief that “scientific observation and literary storytelling can be used as a means of constructing a living record of the relationship between humans and natural spaces.” In October, Laura Pritchett, a playwright and freelance writer who grew up on a farm in Colorado. During her residency in October, she will work on turning her play, Dirt: A Terra Nova Tradition, into a novel and finding a wider audience for both. Her work ranges all across the Western naturalist spectrum, from “climate change to wolves, from fracking to bears.” The Aldo and Estella Leopold Residency began in 2012 as an inspiring retreat for writers to reflect and create in the home where Aldo and Estella Leopold first lived as newlyweds in 1912. Residents spend one month at Mi Casita and receive a $500 stipend to help defray travel and living expenses. At the conclusion of their stay, residents give a public presentation of their work in Taos. The Residency is a New Mexico-based initiative sponsored by the Leopold Writing Program in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service. The Leopold Writing Program builds on Aldo Leopold’s legacy as a writer by inspiring the next generation to participate in the evolution of environmental ethics through the written word. For more information: RESIDENCY |
Leopold Writing Program Announces Winners of Leopold Writing Contest |
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March 22, 2018
Albuquerque, NM – On April 21st, four students from around the state will be honored for their winning entries in the 2018 Leopold Writing Contest at an awards ceremony at the Luna Mansion in Los Lunas. Each winner will be awarded $500 and an additional $250 will be awarded in books to the school library of the overall best essayist. These essays will be read at the event on April 21st and will be posted on the Leopold Writing Program website. The Leopold Writing Program congratulates the 2018 Leopold Writing Contest winners: Akshay Warrier (Overall winner), grade 11, Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque Peter Watson, grade 11, Los Alamos High School, Los Alamos Elijah Russell, grade 8, Jimmy Carter Middle School, Albuquerque Seth Almanzar, grade 6, Rio Rancho Middle School, Rio Rancho This year’s contest asked students to “Tell the story of a local land ethic leader”. Akshay Warrier wrote about his father as his local land ethic leader. Peter Watson wrote about Craig Martin who organized the Los Alamos community to plant trees in the aftermath of the Cerro Grande and Las Conchas fires and helped found the Los Alamos Youth Conservation Corps. Elijah Russell wrote about his grandfather, Benjamin Romero Rivera, a Socorro County farmer and leader of the Sevilleta Land Grant Association. Seth Almanzar wrote about Josh Nelson, a guide at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It was up to each student to interpret what a local land ethic leader means to them in the context of A Sand County Almanac (1949), a classic in Western literature that articulates Leopold’s Land Ethic: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Leopold defined the “biotic community” as the soils, waters, plants, and animals—including humans—that collectively make up “the land”. The Aldo Leopold Writing Contest—now entering its 10th year—is sponsored by the Leopold Writing Program in collaboration with the Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico. The Leopold Writing Program builds on Leopold’s legacy as a writer by inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders to participate in the evolution of land ethics through the written word. |
2017 Annual Lecture by Barry Lopez
Opening Remarks by John Byram
KUNM Interview of Tony Anella by Spencer Beckwith
April 18, 2017
Click the play button below to hear more about The Leopold Writing Program and our First Annual Leopold Lecture.
Click the play button below to hear more about The Leopold Writing Program and our First Annual Leopold Lecture.
Press Release: Inaugural Leopold Lecture to feature noted author Barry Lopez |
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February 23, 2017
Barry Lopez, an author whose writings are recognized for their humanitarian and environmental concerns, will be the keynote speaker at the inaugural Leopold Lecture on Sunday, April 23. The lecture program, inspired by the work of environmentalist and conservationist Aldo Leopold, will be held 2 p.m. at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th St. SW, Albuquerque. Admission is free but donations to support the nonprofit Leopold Writing Program are appreciated. Lopez, who lives on the upper McKenzie River in Oregon, is the author of 14 works of fiction and non-fiction, and has traveled through more than 80 countries in the course of his work. His books include Of Wolves and Men, a finalist for the National Book Award, and Arctic Dreams, a National Book Award winner. He is the recipient of numerous literary and cultural honors, including Guggenheim, Lannan, and National Science Foundation fellowships. “We are especially honored to have Barry Lopez, a National Book Award-winning author give the inaugural Leopold Lecture,” Anthony Anella, founder and president of the Leopold Writing Program, said. “The mission of the Leopold Writing Program is to create an intergenerational network of leaders who, by virtue of their writing talent, have the potential to change the cultural story about the relationship between humans and nature.” Anella noted that in celebration of the program’s intergenerational mission, Lopez will present awards to the four winners of the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest for students in grades 6-12 prior to his lecture. Aldo Leopold, who had close ties to New Mexico, was an author, philosopher, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist who lived from 1887 to 1948. He is the author of A Sand County Almanac, in which he asserts his land ethic: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” The Leopold Writing Program builds on his legacy as a writer by inspiring the next generation of leaders to participate in the evolution of environmental ethics through the written word. The Leopold Writing Program consists of educational initiatives that support writers in three different stages of their development:
The Golden Apple Foundation coordinated the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest, which asked students to answer this question: “How is the way people treat each other related to the way people treat the land?” Award winners will receive cash prizes and books. The 2017 winners are: Grades 6-7: Tigerlily Warner, a sixth-grader at Aldo Leopold Charter School in Silver City, teacher Mark Cantrell; Grades 8-9: Isabella Clark, an eighth-grader at Mandela Independent Magnet School in Santa Fe, teacher Nevada Benton; Grades 10-12: Abygail MacCurdy, a senior at Albuquerque High School, teacher Lisa Martinez, 12th grade; Overall Best Essayist: Isabella Clark, an eighth-grader at Mandela Independent Magnet School in Santa Fe, teacher Nevada Benton. Sponsors of the Leopold Lecture are: The Leopold Writing Program, the Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the Aldo Leopold Foundation, Bookworks, and Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm. |