A student environmental group at UCSB won a $100,000 grant this week after receiving the most votes in Dockers’ clothing company’s nationwide “Wear the Pants” contest. The Environmental Education for the Next Generation group, a nonprofit founded by UCSB undergrad Ryland King in 2009, was the winning organization selected from five finalists in an original applicant pool of 3,300 — and was the only student-run association in the competition.
EENG trains UCSB student volunteers and places them in local 1st and 2nd grade classrooms to lead weekly lessons about environmental issues relevant to the S.B. community and increase environmental literacy among area youth. King said he will use the money to help fund EENG’s presence and outreach on the UCSB campus, and also hopes to expand the program’s educational and organizational development programs to the state level.