February 1, 2012 — The Institute for Environmental Negotiation at the University of Virginia is seeking nominations for its Gerald P. McCarthy Award for Leadership in Environmental Conflict Resolution.

The institute's mission is to practice conflict resolution and consensus-building, to learn from that practice and to teach and build capacity of others, all in the service of creating ecologically, socially and economically sustainable communities.

The institute gives the annual McCarthy Award to an individual, organization, local government, agency, educational institution or community member who demonstrates leadership in the effort to preserve and protect the commonwealth's environment; supports collaborative problem-solving through actions, contributions and/or educational programs; and who is a role model to others for the resolution of environmental issues.

Nominations will be accepted through April 20. A nomination form is available online here. The institute will present the award on behalf of the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute, a partnership program between the Virginia Department of Forestry, the Virginia Tech Center for Economic Education and the Institute for Environmental Negotiation. The Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute's mission is to develop leaders throughout Virginia who can help groups involved in contentious natural resources issues move beyond conflict toward consensus-building and collaborative problem-solving.

The Institute for Environmental Negotiation will announce this year's recipient at the graduation of the 2012 Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute class in Charlottesville on June 7. The award was created in 2004 to honor McCarthy, its first recipient, and his varied contributions to protect and promote environmental literacy in Virginia. Among other accomplishments, he brought environmental mediation to Virginia. As executive director of the Virginia Environmental Endowment, McCarthy has been instrumental in awarding funding to create and continue support of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation.

Last year's McCarthy Award was presented to Faye Cooper, who has committed more than 30 years of her life to conservation efforts in Virginia. She was a founding member and later the executive director for the Valley Conservation Council, a private land trust that promotes land-use policies and conservation methods that protect the natural and cultural resources of the Shenandoah Valley region. In addition, she was instrumental in improving the water quality in Smith Creek in Rockingham and Shenandoah counties through her work to implement a regional, cooperative management plan.

For information on the McCarthy Award and the Virginia Natural Resource Leadership Institute, contact Will Callaway, program manager, at 434-924-6569 or wlc2du@virginia.edu.