The Río Grande International Study Center (RGISC) has been recognized with a Gulf Guardian Award by the U.S. EPA-Gulf of Mexico Program. The non-profit environmental organization was recognized for its annual basin-wide student water-testing program, the Río Research Roundup.
Tricia Cortez, executive director of RGISC, accepted the award November 30 in Mobile, Alabana.
RGISC began the Río Research Roundup in 2010. The program works with 2,500 to 3,000 teachers and students in the U.S. and Mexico each year to test the waters of the Rio Grande, its tributaries, and other Texas river basins that drain into the Gulf of Mexico.
Of the award, Cortez said, “We thank the EPA that gave us the seed money eight years ago to start this meaningful youth environmental program, and we thank all the teachers and students who have worked with us for nearly a decade. We also thank our funders, our board, and our staff who have built this program into a tremendously rich educational program.”
