Students face off for chance to go to international environmental science competition

Environmental stewardship is tough, but important. It not only to keeps North Dakota beautiful, but also keeps it among the top wheat and honey producing states in the country.

These students are digging in to environmental science at Envirothon, a several days long competition.

"I think it's important to learn about the environment so that we can keep it healthy for years to come," said Zachary Krill, 12th grader at Minot High School.

"I feel like not a lot of people appreciate the environment. They just like, throw their trash and they're done with it and I really want to take care of the environment," said Jasmine Free, 8th grader at Jim Hill Middle School in Minot.

About 100 students get hands on experiences such as holding a queen bee, in order to understand how hives develop.

"It feels really weird and you can feel them walk around, and you can hear them because they're very loud," said Justice Nerad, 8th grader at Jim Hill Middle School.

Organizers say experiences like this help push students to explore natural resources opportunities.

"What I really love about kids building their passion for natural resources, is because they're the ones that are going to be taking care of us when we're older," said Dane Buysse, ND Envirothon Coordinator.

After completing various tasks, teams present results to a panel of professionals. The top team gets to travel to Maryland to compete against teams from 40 states, Canada and China.

Students from 15 schools from around the state took part in this year's competition, focusing on agricultural soil and water conservation stewardship.

For more information on ND Envirothon, you can go to: ndenvirothon.org