Each year, the Harris Center for Conservation Education awards two local graduating seniors with its Environmental Leadership Scholarship Award.

One student from ConVal High School and one from Conant High School each receive a $2,500 scholarship award to assist them in their future academic studies.

The 2024 award recipient from ConVal is Elizabeth “Liza” Petrov, who accepted her award at ConVal’s Award night on June 5. Madison Bellofatto, Conant’s award winner, accepted her award at Conant’s award night on June 6. Each of these two students demonstrated interest and leadership in environmental issues and an intention to incorporate that into their college studies.

Petrov plans to attend the University of New Hampshire to major in civil engineering and minor in architectural studies. She wishes to combine material, civil and environmental engineering with green building technology, and hopes to continue hosting and/or organizing Climate Cafes while there, possibly through their sustainability institute.

Petrov credits the Peterborough Renewable Energy Project (PREP) and its initiative to convert the town’s aging buildings to all-electric heating and cooling with having a major impact on her. She thought about how architecture and engineering can make a difference in the renewable energy field.

“I believe that the future of building design will require architecture and civil engineering to more closely intersect, as more buildings will be designed with sustainability and green-building technology in mind,” she stated.

Bellofatto plans to attend St. Anselm College, majoring in environmental science. Her biggest academic interest in high school was environmental science, which led her to take a college-level environmental science class through Lakes Region Community College. She plans to create environmental policies to benefit both ecosystems and individual species.

“I’ve learned how to reduce my carbon footprint and I’ve learned how to make policies regarding global climate change,” she stated.