Retired Quaker Valley
teacher Ed Schroth wins
Environmental Award.
BY JENNIFER BROZAK
O
ne of the area’s most respected and influential
environmental educators has received a distinguished
award from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
This past spring, Leetsdale’s Ed Schroth, 75, was honored
with the 2016 Western Pennsylvania Environmental Award.
The award, which Schroth accepted during a ceremony in May,
recognizes leadership that results in making a significant impact
on the environment, according to the PEC.
Schroth, whom the PEC refers to as a “force in environmental
education,” has amassed more than 50 years of experience as an
environmental science and biology teacher. He spent 36 years at
Quaker Valley High School, followed by 19 years as a professor
at Duquesne University. He retired from Duquesne this past
spring.
“It’s always gratifying when an award is coming from your
peers. I’m incredibly honored, and thankful for the students I’ve
taught who’ve helped me with my field work,” says Schroth.
Schroth, who graduated from North Hills High School in
1959, says his career in environmental education began when he
was a boy.
“I was lucky to connect with many influential mentors as well
as fellow students who were interested in the field,” he says.
“When you make connections with others who have the same
passion, it creates a wonderful synergy.”
After high school, Schroth attended Baldwin-Wallace
University in Berea, Ohio, and then completed graduate
work at numerous universities, including Indiana University
of Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock University, the University of
Pittsburgh and Penn State.
While teaching at Quaker Valley, Schroth launched the “Up
the Creek Gang,” a field project where students studied the
ecology of Little Sewickley Creek and its watershed. He created
the group as a way to help his students “understand the big
concepts” when it comes to environmental science.
“There are two parts to biology and environmental science
education,” he explains. “The first is the zooming in on the fine
details, memorizing the names of trees and so on. The second part
is getting out there and observing the environment, getting your
hands dirty. These are things that you can’t do through a computer
program.
“Sometimes in environmental education today, students are
not getting to part two. Students don’t feel like they’re part of
the ecosystem. This [group] helps them develop their individual
passion.”
In 1991, Schroth led a group of students to Qingdao, China,
for environmental studies as a partnership with the China
Association for Science and Technology. He says that his was
the first American high school group to ever be invited to study
in China. Since then, Schroth has returned to China a total of
10 times, eight of them with students: he’s taken three groups
from Quaker Valley and 5 groups from Duquesne. While there,
students worked with Chinese science students to conduct simple
field labs and share data.
“We can make an impact by getting young people together,”
he says. “I told my friend Raymond—a special friend we made
while in China—that if war ever breaks out between our two great
countries, you and I can say that we tried.”
His standout career has not gone unrecognized; among other
honors, he’s also a past recipient of the National Association of
Biology Teachers Outstanding Biology Teacher award. In 1982,
he was named “Sewickley Man of the Year.”
“There are some very influential people in Sewickley, and I was
just a high school teacher,” he says of the award. “It was quite an
honor.”
Now that he’s retired from teaching, Schroth says that he is
ready to move on to “chapter 3” of his career. In addition to his
continued work with the watershed, he wants to offer outreach
programs to local universities, schools, and community groups.
He also plans on spending more time with his wife, Theresa, and
two adult children. True to his nature, he says he’ll continue to
attend lectures and conferences to learn more about his field of
study.
“The quest for education is ne