Hudson River Environmental Society Annual Awards Dinner

The Hudson River Environmental Society will be honoring the following three dedicated professionals for their commitment to better understand and protect the natural environments of the Hudson River and watershed and engage others through outreach and education.

Outstanding Environmental Researcher Award – Dorothy Peteet, NASA GISS & LDEO Columbia University

Dorothy Peteet is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Adjunct Professor, Columbia University. She directs the Paleoecology Division of the New Core Lab at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia and in collaboration with GISS climate modelers and LDEO geochemists is studying the Late Pleistocene and Holocene archives of lakes and wetlands (peatlands, salt marshes, tidal freshwater marshes, bogs, fens). Dr. Peteet has added significantly to our understanding of the evolution of, carbon sequestration in, and sedimentation in Hudson River marshes. She also has been a mentor to countless graduate students helping them persue a career in natural sciences.

Outstanding Environmental Educator Award – Carrie Roble, Hudson River Park Trust

Carrie Roble began working for the Trust in 2010 as a seasonal environmental educator. Since then she has helped expand the Trust’s environmental education programs and research initiatives. In 2020, Ms. Roble was promoted to Vice President of the Trust’s River Project. She dedicates her work to the health of the Hudson River and empowering New Yorkers to be stewards of NYC’s waterways through participatory research and environmental education.

Distinguished Service Award – Roy "JR" Jacobson, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

JR Jacobson manages and directs the Freshwater Wetlands Protection program for the State of New York. JR has worked tirelessly for the past several years to garner the support needed to protect all wetlands in New York that meet regulatory threshhold. In 2023, New York Stated passed a new Freshwater Wetlands Law that provided the authorization to do just that. JR then lead a statewide team in 2024 to draft new freshwater wetland regulations that were promulgated on January 1, 2025. The new law and associated regulations will significantly increase the number, types, and area of freshwater wetlands protected in the Hudson Valley.

Host or Publisher Hudson River Environmental Society