17³Ô¹ÏÍø researcher and science educator Dinah Maygarden has been named one of The Urban Conservancy’s 2023 Urban Heroes. The annual award recognizes individuals for their role in creating a more vibrant and resilient New Orleans.
Maygarden, research associate and science education program director at 17³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences, will be honored and celebrated during an 11:30 a.m. awards luncheon on Oct. 6 at the Lakefront Airport’s Walnut Room. She will be joined by two other honorees.
The Urban Conservancy’s Urban Heroes Celebration aims to highlight the progress as a community to promote equitable access to New Orleans’ and the region’s rich economic, environmental and cultural assets.
Since 1997, Maygarden has worked at 17³Ô¹ÏÍø implementing educational projects for K-12 and adult audiences in New Orleans to connect students to the coastal zone in which they live. She brings real-world relevant science problems to teachers, students and adult learners.
Maygarden hosts field-based workshops for these audiences at 17³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Shea Penland Coastal Education and Research Facility (CERF) and elsewhere. She also develops partnerships with many community organizations to enhance the impact of and fund these programs.
