LAPS NEWS RELEASE

Aditya Viswanathan, a 7th grader at Los Alamos Middle School, and Los Alamos High School junior Isabella McTeigue have garnered Honorable Mention awards in the 2022 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest. They each received a $50 cash prize and environmental books to add to their personal libraries. Almost 200 middle and high school students from around New Mexico entered this year’s contest. 

The Aldo Leopold Writing Contest is hosted by the Leopold Writing Program every year. The contest aims to give voice to young writers, who are most vulnerable to the consequences of environmental inaction. The contest is open to all New Mexico students in grades 6–12. 

The annual contest asks students to submit original essays in response to a writing prompt. This year’s question was: “What actions have you taken to help “tend the land” (such as protecting soil, plants, animals, wild- life habitat, water sources, etc.), or what are your ideas for how you and other young people can help counteract the impacts of climate disruption on the different elements of your local environment?”

The mission of the Leopold Writing Program is to inspire an ethic of caring for our planet by cultivating di- verse voices through the spoken and written word. The non-profit organization seeks effective and inclusive ways to engage the current and next generation of citizen leaders in the urgent conversation to address changing realities brought about by climate disruption, biodiversity loss, growing demand for fresh water, and other global conservation issues.

The Leopold Writing Program hosts three multigenerational programs each year, including the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest, the Aldo and Estella Leopold Residency, and the Annual Leopold Lecture (returning in 2023). For more information, visit www.leopoldwritingprogram.org.