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A Bryan County teacher’s proposal to increase biodiversity and ecosystem resilience on campus earned her school a $1,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Kari Wilcher, outdoor educator at Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary in Richmond Hill, was named the 2025-26 Conservation Teacher of the Year, DNR announced today. The annual award recognizes a Georgia kindergarten through fifth-grade teacher who demonstrates innovation and excellence in teaching life sciences. Funding is provided by The Environmental Resources Network, or TERN, friends group of DNR’s Wildlife Conservation Section.
Linda May, outreach coordinator for the agency’s Wildlife Conservation Section, said Wilcher was selected for her project called Seeds of Stewardship: Increasing Native Biodiversity at Carver. “This proposal outlines a creative and sustainable plan for place-based outdoor learning that includes soil testing, collecting seeds from native plants, restoring wildlife habitat and contributing data to community science projects,“ May said. “Ms. Wilcher’s plan is well written and demonstrates scientific expertise and a deep passion for the environment.”
Fourth- and fifth-grade students at Carver Elementary are already restoring degraded habitat across the school’s 50-acre campus. The work involves removing invasive Chinese tallow trees and Japanese climbing fern, collecting and cataloguing seeds from native plants, and establishing a seed library for use in habitat restoration projects on campus and throughout coastal Georgia. The seed library currently includes 13 native species, among them Elliott’s aster, a purple-flowered pollinator plant that DNR monitors.
Grant funds will be used to buy soil testing equipment, seed storage supplies and an indoor greenhouse, allowing students to start native plants during winter months for spring planting. Additional support will come from conservation partners including Coastal Wildscapes, Georgia Native Plant Society, Georgia Native Seed Network, Richmond Hill Garden Club, Xerces Society and the University of Georgia Marine Extension and Sea Grant. Expert training in plant propagation, invasive species management and ecological restoration will ensure the students’ efforts meet professional standards.
“Through hands-on field investigations, unstructured nature play and community science, students develop scientific habits of mind, social-emotional resilience and a life-long sense of environmental stewardship,” Wilcher wrote. “With DNR and TERN’s support, our Seeds of Stewardship project gives students meaningful opportunities to grow native plants, monitor our wetland and restore biodiversity on campus.”
The project also aligns with priorities in Georgia’s 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan, a statewide strategy to conserve native wildlife and natural habitats before these animals, plants and places become rarer and more costly to protect.
The Conservation Teacher of the Year grant is coordinated by DNR Wildlife Conservation Section staff and a TERN board member. TERN, a nonprofit formed in 1992, supports Wildlife Conservation programs through fundraising and donations. Wildlife Conservation also relies on grants, direct donations and fundraisers, such as the sale and renewal of Georgia’s bald eagle and monarch butterfly license plates.
Through education, research and management, Wildlife Conservation works to conserve and restore Georgia’s native animals not legally fished for or hunted, plus rare plants and natural habitats. The agency also strives to increase public enjoyment of the outdoors, including through wildlife viewing.
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Seeds of Stewardship Project at George W. Carver Elementary
