$10,000 grant tops of a year of awards for education initiative.
The Bookend Trust has been announced as the winner of the Banksia Environmental Foundation's special GPT Group Community Grant of $10,000.
Bookend is a not-for-profit education initiative created and run by UTAS staff and alumni.
The Banksia Awards are presented annually and are Australia's most prestigious environmental awards. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is the patron of the Awards.
The Community Grant is awarded to a not-for-profit group that shows the most potential to create a lasting and positive impact, enhancing the long-term well-being of our communities.
Bookend was selected for community recognition from entrants in all of the non-business categories of the awards. It was also a finalist in both the Raising the Bar category for educational work and the inaugural GE Eco Innovation Award for Individual Excellence.
Recent Bookend projects have involved Tasmanian school students assisting researchers along remote Tasmanian coastlines, helicoptering to research sites in the great south-west wilderness, and even flying to Antarctica. Schools around Australia are interacting with the program and projects are in development with Thailand and Kenya.
Bookend's Dr Niall Doran, Honorary Associate in the UTAS School of Zoology said it was a great honour.
"It is humbling seeing the diversity of great work being conducted around Australia.
"What we've been achieving with Bookend wouldn't be possible without the contributions of so many people who want to make a difference and doing so through their own time and effort."
The win completes a Grand Slam of awards for the Tasmanian initiative this year.
In April, Bookend teacher Andrew Hughes was awarded the $50,000 Power of One Award by Penguin Australia and international best-selling author Bryce Courtenay to further his work with Tasmanian students. Some 2,500 students have worked with Andrew on the ground since then.
In June, the Bookend Trust was honoured with a World Environment Day Award by the United Nations Association of Australia for its community outreach work.
In the same month, it was also named the Australian Geographic Society's 2012 Conservationist of the Year. In September, the UTAS Vice Chancellor, Professor Peter Rathjen, awarded Bookend a $10,000 prize for Outstanding Community Engagement
Bookend Trust team with its World Environment Day trophy: From left to right - Ninna Millikin (media producer); Peter Harcourt (cameraman/editor); Dr Alastair Richardson (academic director); Dr Niall Doran (director); Andrew Hughes (education officer); Felicity Wilkinson (Envirothon planner); Dr Regina Magierowski (Envirothon coordinator).