Laura Beiser, Environmental Administrator, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Jackson, Mississippi
Laura Beiser assists many environmental education organizations that receive nonpoint watershed funds, including Mississippi PLT. For the past 10 years, she has planned the state’s Aquafairs, which involve 2,000–3,000 students per year in a field day that includes PLT activities. She worked with professional puppeteers to produce a watershed-related show that now is presented free of charge throughout the state. She served on the committee that developed Connecting Students to Natural Resources, in which an educator worked with teachers in five counties to present environmental education in classrooms, which resulted in improved test scores. She has been a trained PLT facilitator from the outset of Mississippi PLT. She is incoming president of the Mississippi Environmental Education Association and serves on its Environmental Literacy Committee.
Laura was named National PLT Outstanding Educator Honoree in 2010.