Awardee

Dr. Jacqueline Comito
Ames, Iowa

ComitoDr. Jacqueline Comito, an anthropologist, musician, and video producer, has been involved in wetlands education and outreach for just five years, but in that short time has produced an impressive body of high-caliber work. She is the director of two outreach and education programs at Iowa State University—Water Rocks! and Iowa Learning Farms. Her creativity and vision have propelled these programs to become highly successful and often requested across Iowa. Since 2005, she has partnered with numerous state organizations and federal agencies to help implement the Iowa Learning Farms, a statewide conservation demonstration and outreach program to promote water conservation. In 2013, she developed and launched Water Rocks!, an entertaining and engaging youth water education program, which utilizes art and science to teach over 15,000 youth about the importance of water and wetlands. She also oversaw the development of a fleet of three interactive, mobile learning centers called “Conservation Stations,” which have attended 389 events and engaged 51,000 people in natural resource education.