Judy Preston, who served as Connecticut Sea Grant’s Long Island Sound outreach coordinator from 2009 to 2022, received the Tom ODell Distinguished Service Award for her four decades of professional and volunteer conservation and environmental education work.
The award was given by the Rockfall Foundation, which promotes and supports conservation and environmental education in the Lower Connecticut River Valley, at its annual meeting in Middletown on Oct. 14.
The award recognizes Preston for her career in “protecting the natural world through science, community engagement and environmental education,” including as director of science and stewardship at The Nature Conservancy and co-founder of the Old Saybrook Land Trust where she helped to protect 340 acres and secure$2.5 million in funding. She was also honored for founding the Tidewater Institute that worked to advance conservation of the Connecticut River estuary, and for her time at Connecticut Sea Grant. Among her initiatives at Sea Grant was the creation of the Coastal Certificate program, which trained gardeners to incorporate practices that benefit the larger watershed and ecosystem.
“It feels so amazing,” Preston said of receiving the award.
After retirement when she reflected on her career, she said, she first went through a period of self-doubt.
“I wondered, ‘Did I do enough?'” she told the audience at the annual meeting. “But as I thought about my career, I realized that no one person changes important things. It’s the alchemy of many people, and persistence and resolution. I came around to realizing that I really did help move the dial.”
Now a regular contributor to Estuary Magazine, Preston is working on other writing projects and continues to be active in the land trust.
“Judy has always been a doer—it’s in her heart,” said Sylvain De Guise, CTSG director. “I am not surprised at all about the recognition of her efforts through this award. And she continues to care, award or not.”