Stephanie Swaim of Tacoma, education coordinator for the Tahoma Audubon Society, is one of 40 people selected from a national field for the TogetherGreen Conservation Leadership Program.

The new initiative, designed by the National Audubon Society with support from Toyota, gives each of its 40 fellows a $10,000 grant to spend on a local project. They will enlist residents in conserving land, water and energy, and fostering greater environmental health.

Swaim will work with middle-school students at Fort Lewis through an after-school program called Osprey Club. Up to 50 youth in the program’s first year will do cleanup projects and study wildlife as well as serve as environmental mentors to younger children in elementary schools and day cares on base.

“I’m excited to be a part of this first cohort of conservation leaders,” Swaim said in a news release. “We are an Audubon chapter that was built on the passion of our volunteers to create a community of educated nature advocates. I’m happy to be able to continue to build our educational programming to include our military families, who make up such a large part of our community.”

Swaim went to work for Tahoma Audubon in January. She previously led programs at the New England Aquarium and the Florida Keys Ocean Science Center.

She was also coordinator of the JASON Project at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, where she developed a science program for middle schoolers.

Matt Misterek, The News Tribune