EPA Environmental Youth Award Goes To Katie Culbert

TOMS RIVER – First the governor’s award, now the president’s. High School North’s Katie Culbert’s latest scientific recognition is the President’s Environmental Youth Award, from the Environmental Protection Agency.

With the honeybee population threatened by climate change, Kaitlyn – known as the “Bee Girl” at Toms River High School North in Toms River, New Jersey – decided to take matters into her own hands by studying and protecting honeybees as both a researcher and activist.

In coordination with Rutgers and Stockton Universities, Katie implemented a scientific study of Varroa mites, the leading killer of honeybees, and is currently developing a regression analysis to predict Colony Collapse Disorder. Perhaps more importantly, Katie understands that research is useless unless put into action, so she has combined her work in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) with local initiatives, collecting donations to create the 4-H Busy Bees Beekeeping Club.

As a certified beekeeper herself, Kaitlyn leads the club by teaching young people about honeybees and how they can be protected. In coordination with club members, 4-H Teens, and the Master Gardeners, she also secured a 2,500-square-foot pollinator garden and maintains it for local honeybee health.

Kaitlyn understands the critical role honeybees play in our ecosystem, and her plans for pollinator protection has only just begun. She intends to build additional gardens for honeybees throughout Ocean County Park, and this year she will serve as the “New Jersey Honey Queen,” traveling around the state to educate the public on beekeeping and the honeybee industry. Thanks to efforts like hers, the threatened honeybee population has a chance to survive, and even thrive, in a climate-evolving world.

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to traffic built up the anticipation.

Saturday’s weather was rainy, which made even more people pile into the event on Sunday. Even though the base opened its gates for the event at 9 a.m., the enthusiastic visitors were already preparing to swarm each one of the three entrances in order to get inside quicker.

Hundreds upon hundreds were gathered and impatiently waiting for the already massive lines in front of the security check-up to clear so they could finally go in, and again enjoy an event that they have been missing for the past five years to return.

Finally, after five years and close to an hour in line, the Power in the Pines event was back. The reasons for the long hiatus were the COVID-19 pandemic, and two very important operations that the MDL base was in use for: “Allies Refuge” and “Allies Welcome.” During the time those operations were active, the base served as a safe haven for the Afghan evacuees.

This year the event carried the slogan “On The Wings of Community,” and according to U.S. Air Force Major Virginia Kelaher, it’s an attempt to bring the joint base closer to the towns surrounding it.

“This is a chance for the community to see what we actually do every day,” said Kelaher. “They hear our planes and see our vehicles, but do not often get to interact with us.”

And they definitely got to interact with military personnel – in addition to seeing and hearing the vehicles.

The main area of the event was filled with different military displays, from massive aircrafts like the C130T Hercules - which carries cargo - to WWII vehicles and props, to the first-time addition of a full STEM display.

Once 11:30 a.m. came around, the whole base went into silence. A military orchestra began their set. The National Anthem rang in the air, for a moment as if everyone around the orchestra froze in time.

Moments later the main event began, a F-16 Viper Demo Team opened the first act of the show.

Followed by them were the U.S. Army Golden Knights. The demonstration parachute team also was Kelaher’s favorite part of the event. The reason for that was because she was a part of the team 10 years ago during an air show.

Then one o’clock hit, and a short quick aircraft began ascending the sky until it suddenly disappeared. Moments later a loud bang shook everyone and the same exact aircraft tore through the air.

The plane in question is an F-15C from the Massachusetts Air National Guard, and it created an adrenaline-pumping and ear drums-popping show for all the attendants. As the public announcer said, “The pilot of the plane set the bar high and kept it high.”

And while the lines for the main entrance often took hours to clear out, the smiles and amazed looks from the public showed that it was worth the wait.