Lehigh Hanson is pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 Quarry Life Award for North America. The Quarry Life Award program is HeidelbergCement’s international research and education competition focusing on mining sites and the need to raise awareness about the biological value of mineral extraction sites worldwide.
The first Quarry Life Award program launched in September of 2011 and included more than 50 participating quarries from 18 countries in Europe, Central Asia and Africa. For the 2018 Quarry Life Award program, Lehigh Hanson selected two quarries to participate. In the U.S., the New Windsor Quarry in Maryland was selected. In Canada, the Cadomin Quarry in Alberta was chosen. Initial proposals were submitted by contestants in November of last year.
Participants submitted proposals within the research stream, focusing on scientific projects that increase knowledge of mining ecology and lead to improved biodiversity, landscape, or water management. The available categories in the research stream were biodiversity management, habitat and species research and beyond quarry borders.
A panel of judges consisting of Patrick James, Tom Chizmadia, Sophie Mullen and Tim Matz from Lehigh Hanson along with Dr. Sue Grayston, a professor from the University of British Columbia, and Margaret O'Gorman, President of the Wildlife Habitat Council, selected the following winning proposals:
1st Place: The Co-Existence of a Threatened Population of Grizzly Bears with Quarry Mining in Alberta, Canada (Cadomin Quarry).Gordon Stenhouse, fRI Research, Research Scientist and Program Lead, Grizzly Bear Program; Anja Sorensen, fRI Research, Research Staff; Isobel Phoebus, fRI Research, Research Staff
2nd Place: Ruling The Roost: Developing Thermally Optimal Roosts to Enhance Microbat Population Biodiversity (Cadomin Quarry).
Dave Critchley, Program Chair and Restoration Ecologist, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology; Jenna Hlewka, Student, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology; Ronnie Caron, Student, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
The winners were recognized at a celebration dinner near the company’s headquarters in Irving, Texas, on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. Program participants, jury members and members of Lehigh Hanson’s and HeidelbergCement’s senior management team were in attendance.
“On behalf of Lehigh Hanson and HeidelbergCement, I would like to congratulate the winners of the 2018 Quarry Life Award program for North America,” said Tom Chizmadia, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications. “The winning proposals clearly demonstrate the spirit of the program and its emphasis on managing biodiversity at our quarry sites. It was a pleasure working with this year’s participants.”