Alachua County 4-H Envirothon Team wins state championship, moves on to international competition

Press release from Alachua County 4-H

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – For the second year in a row, the Alachua County 4-H Envirothon Team, The Tardigrades, won first place at the Florida Envirothon at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County. The Tardigrades will be representing Florida at the NCF Envirothon, July 19-25, 2026, at Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS. The team consists of Will Mercado, Seth Norcross, William Pruden, Tristan Witt, and Zhinou Womeni and is coached by volunteer advisors Amy and Jonathan Pruden. 

Last summer, the winning team of Imalyss Charles, Will Mercado, Abigail Pruden, William Pruden, and Katie Ross competed in the international NCF Envirothon in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, placing in the top 10 in Forestry and Current Issue (Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a Canopy of Change), as well as in the top 20 out of 50 international teams. The students were able to travel to Banff and not only experience the beautiful Canadian Rockies but also be part of traditional First Nation ceremonies and gain knowledge of indigenous teachings.

To qualify for the state competition, the Alachua County 4-H Envirothon Team won the Central Florida Regional Envirothon. 

The Envirothon is North America’s largest high school environmental science and natural resource conservation competition, with over 25,000 students from the U.S., Canada, China, and Singapore.  Teams are challenged to engage in real-world problem-solving and leadership through hands-on learning and outdoor field experiences in aquatic ecology, forestry, soils, wildlife, and an oral presentation on the current issue (Non-Point Source Pollution: It begins at home).