NEW ORLEANS (press release) — Kate Tannian, Pontchartrain Conservancy’s Lighthouse Programs and Interpretation Manager was recently named the 2024 Sadie Roberts-Joseph Excellence in Community Outreach award recipient by the Louisiana Association of Museums (LAM).
The Sadie Roberts-Joseph Excellence in Community Outreach award recognizes an individual in Louisiana who has demonstrated outstanding work in the area of transformative educational programming that has positively affected the community.
“I’m really grateful to receive this award,” said Tannian in a press release. “We all have a role to play in taking care of our home. By raising awareness in our communities about the importance of environmental protection and strengthening resilience in our coastal areas, we’re ensuring a better future for everyone.”
Tannian leads a charge to engage, educate and inspire students and residents through hands-on STEM programming that imparts the importance of protecting the environment and improving resilience for Louisiana’s coastal communities. She leads this effort at Pontchartrain Conservancy’s New Canal Lighthouse on the southern shores of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans that functions as a science and history museum and STEM education center. Inside the museum, visitors can learn about the history of the New Canal Lighthouse, the geological and anthropogenic development of Pontchartrain Basin and the surrounding communities, environmental challenges and threats, and the importance of coastal restoration and conservation.
“We are so very proud of Kate and the work she does in the community,” said Kristi Trail, executive director of Pontchartrain Conservancy. “She has developed programming that is inquiry-based and involves applications of STEM disciplines in real-world problem-solving activities. Her teachings provide young people an array of age-tailored career-connecting activities that illustrate a wide range of professions that are applied to addressing environmental issues like climate change, marine debris and wetland loss. Kate has worked tirelessly to create programs at our museum that interest and inspire children and families alike.”
Tannian will be celebrated, along with other LAM awards recipients, at LAM’s annual meeting and awards luncheon in Baton Rouge on Oct. 21, 2024.
Pontchartrain Conservancy is an environmental advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the water, land, and the future of the Pontchartrain Basin, a 10,000 square mile watershed encompassing 16 Louisiana parishes.
