This article appears in the Winter 2025 issue
On behalf of Estuary magazine and its parent The Watershed Fund, we are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism Award. The awards were made at an event co-hosted by The Rockfall Foundation at its DeKoven House early in November. Each winner was given an honorarium and invited to say a few words about their work and achievements.
The Watershed Fund and Estuary magazine give this award in an effort to raise awareness of the need for young people to enter the field of environmental conservation and to encourage young people to consider this career path. The need is great, as new challenges brought on by climate change and invasive species impact the watershed in ways unanticipated just a few years ago.
This year, we are pleased to give the award to three talented young environmentalists.
Sarah Lillie, Associate Director for Dam Removal and Hydropower Policy Reform with American Rivers, has worked with American Rivers’s Northeast Regional program since March 2024. Based in West Hartford, Connecticut, Sarah works throughout the Connecticut River watershed and New England. She has an undergraduate degree in environmental and political science from Northern Arizona University and a masters in Environmental Policy and Management from the University of Denver.
A new resident of New England, Sarah has quickly undertaken a significant portfolio of work including three dam removals in the Connecticut River watershed. She has been successful in raising foundation and government funds to support this work. Sarah is also responsible for coordinating the Eastern Caucus of the national Hydropower Reform Coalition and supporting its policy priorities.
Yaw Darko joined Connecticut Land Conservation Council (CLCC) in 2020 as its second Sandy Breslin Conservation Fellow while pursuing a Master of Public Administration at the University of Connecticut. As a graduate student, he played a pivotal role in securing CLCC’s first federal grant through the USDA-NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program which laid the groundwork for CLCC’s program bringing essential federal resources to local land trusts.
After receiving his degree, Yaw quickly advanced, becoming CLCC’s first Project Specialist and, in 2025, its Director of Grants and Programs. He now oversees CLCC’s grant and financial assistance programs that support land conservation efforts across the state. He works directly with landowners, land trusts, and government partners, ensuring these investments in land conservation are not only strategic but also equitable and community-driven.
Yaw founded and leads CLCC’s program that creates inclusive outdoor experiences for communities of color and underserved groups. He is co-chair of the Land Subcommittee of the Connecticut Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
Zanagee Artis is a climate justice activist who grew up along Connecticut’s shoreline and went to high school in Bloomfield, Connecticut. While in high school he co-founded Zero Hour, a global youth-led climate organization. In 2018, Zero Hour organized the Youth Climate March in Washington, DC, and 25 cities around the world. A 2022 graduate of Brown University, Zanagee now works to oppose new fossil fuel leasing and development on public lands and waters as the Fossil Fuels Policy Advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). He is leading campaigns with NRDC to protect endangered species, communities, and the climate by stopping seismic blasting and drilling in America’s Arctic and ending offshore drilling. He is the co-author of A Kids Book About Climate Change and co-host of 1 Point 5: A Kids Podcast About Climate Justice.
Read about our past award recipients:
2023: Madeline Lahm
2024: Riley Doherty
Guidelines for nominations for the 2026 awards will be announced soon.