TCEQ honors Environmental Excellence Awards winners

TCEQ culminated its award season honoring the winners of the Governor’s Texas Environmental Excellence Awards at a banquet at the Bullock Texas State History Museum last night. This annual awards program recognizes achievements in environmental preservation and protection. Celebrating its 32nd year, the program has honored more than 250 successful environmental projects and activities. Through the TEEA, TCEQ hopes to encourage others to initiate like-minded projects and reinforce a spirit of environmental stewardship.

Entries are reviewed and selected by a Blue-Ribbon Committee. This year’s winners include a farm that introduced a low-evaporation irrigation system, a city repurposing construction material that reduces waste to landfills, and a research facility using technology to help manufacturers reduce costs while reducing their environmental footprint. 

This year’s Educator of the Year uses a hands-on approach to empower students to see the real-world consequences of their actions through projects like designing sustainable homes, cleaning local parks, and drafting legislation to address environmental challenges.

Those honored included:

Agriculture: 
Belding Farms, Fort Stockton — Sustainable Pecan Farming via Water Efficiency

Civic/Community: 
Coastal Bend Bays Foundation, Corpus Christi — Coastal Bend Bays Foundation Environmental Community Programs

Education: 
Galveston Bay Foundation, Kemah — Environmental STEM Education

Environmental Educator of the Year: 
Kacy Debney, AP Environmental Science Teacher, Schertz — Samuel Clemons High School

Individual: 
Ronald J. Kendall, Ph.D., Texas Tech University, Lubbock — Efforts in Wildlife Conservation in the State of Texas: Detection and Development of a Medicated Feed to Treat Parasitic Disease in Wild Quail in Texas

Innovative Operations/Management: 
City of Denton: Solid Waste and Recycling and Wastewater Departments, Denton — City of Denton Commercial Organics Diversion Pilot

Pollution Prevention: 
City of San Antonio, San Antonio — Deconstruction and Circular Economy Program

Technical/Technology: 
Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, Fort Worth — Pioneering Sustainable Efficiency Through Sensor-Driven Solutions

Youth: 
Asvini Thivakaran, Round Rock — Save the Planet

Winners from the Take Care of Texas’ Art and Video contests were also honored at this year’s banquet and awarded prizes from Texas Chemistry Council and Waste Management.

Nominations for the 2026 Environmental Excellence Awards are now open! You can find information about the TEEA categories and videos highlighting this year’s winners on the TEEA website.