FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 14, 2022 

Contact: Hannah Flath, hannahlee.flath@sierraclub.org, 860-634-0225
Virginia Woulfe-Beile, virginia.woulfe-beile@sierraclub.org, 618-977-2319  

ALTON, IL -- At the 16th annual Mississippi Earthtones Festival on Saturday, September 17, Sierra Club Illinois’ Three Rivers Project and Alton Main Street will award three local activists with the 2022 Confluence Conservation Leadership Award. Since 2007, the festival organizers recognize community members who have made significant contributions to environmental conservation in the Riverbend region. This year’s Confluence Conservation Leadership awardees include: Dr. Connie Frey Spurlock, Rachel Lappin, and Emily Ehley.

Dr. Connie Frey Spurlock is a sociologist committed to dismantling hierarchies of oppression and building flourishing relationships in their place. She does this work by centering community-identified goals with meaningful learning experiences for area students. Frey Spurlock is founding director of the SIUE Successful Communities Collaborative (SSCC), a cross-disciplinary program based on the EPIC-N model—an award-winning university-community partnership program that works to advance the needs of communities while training the next generation workforce and leadership. SSCC develops and supports partnerships between SIUE and local communities to advance resilience and sustainability. Frey Spurlock is also a member of the SIUE TRHT Campus Center, which seeks to prepare the next generation of leaders to confront racism and dismantle the belief in a hierarchy of human value. She has been at SIUE since 2004 and is also an associate professor of sociology. Her research and teaching interests center on sustainability, research methods, and community engagement.

Rachel Lappin is an Alton native and Executive Director of Jacoby Arts Center. Rachel shares Jacoby's Mission: to enrich lives in our community through art. Her current work with Alton Main Street as Design Committee Chair and with MEF is an extension of her mission at Jacoby. She brings to this work her experience as an artist with a Bachelor of Fine Art and over 15 years of organizational development, leadership development, strategic planning and communications experience. Rachel has been involved with the Mississippi Earthtones Festival since its inception 16 years ago and has remained involved as a volunteer with Alton Main Street, the Piasa Palisades Group of Sierra Club Illinois, and now as the Executive Director of Jacoby Arts Center. She has been a volunteer, planner, doer, artist, and maker for MEF, and always enjoys being a river rat volunteer with her daughter for the MEF River clean-up. Rachel has also been a selected artist for the MEF Public Artwork Grant provided by Sierra Club to fund large-scale interactive eco-friendly artwork for the festival. This year she has been working with local artists Micheal Snider and Laura Blair to develop two large-scale collaborative public artworks for MEF utilizing the same Public Art Grant. Visit her at the Jacoby Arts Playground at MEF where the Jacoby team will host a variety of performers, local artists, and art activities for all to enjoy.

Emily Ehley holds a BA in Environmental Education from Warren Wilson College and is an ISA Certified Arborist. She has nearly a decade of experience as an environmental educator and is now the Southern Illinois Field Coordinator for Trees Forever. She is originally from Oregon, and is passionate about trees, forests, and the relationship between humans and the natural world. Through her efforts with Trees Forever, Emily is responsible for partnering in tree planting efforts throughout the Metro East, including the Alton Native tree planting initiative and the Granite City reforestation project.

“All three award recipients have made significant contributions to environmental conservation in the Riverbend region,” said Virginia Woulfe-Beile, Co-Coordinator of the Three Rivers Project of Sierra Club Illinois. “We are proud to honor the work of these three leaders, who work tirelessly to advocate, educate, and inspire action in the areas of environmental activism and justice, sustainable agriculture, and clean air and water initiatives.”