The Minnesota Climate Adaptation Awards, presented annually since 2014, recognize exceptional achievements in climate resilience. We know that celebrating success and showcasing the leadership of our peers can help to accelerate adaptation across Minnesota and beyond. Recipients have developed cutting-edge adaptation plans for their communities, supported project-specific implementation of adaptation investments, and served as leaders championing adaptation across their organizations.
2025 Winners
Great River Greening
Organizational Adaptation
Minnehaha Creek Watershed District & Hennepin County Emergency Management
Collaborative Adaptation
Melody Arteaga
Climate Justice Leadership
Karen Wright
Creative Climate Communications
Stephen Handler
Individual Adaptation
Patrick Hamilton
Individual Lifetime Achievement
Mike LeBeau
Individual Lifetime Achievement
The Minnesota Climate Adaptation Awards are sponsored by the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership in partnership with the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and the University of Minnesota Extension.
View past award recipients
Creative Climate Communications Award
Collaborative Adaptation Award
- Truterra & the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program’s Climate Smart Farms Project
- Resilience & Adaptation Action Team that collaborated to develop the “Resilient Communities” goal chapter and other resilience and adaptation content of the Minnesota Climate Action Framework, published in September 2022.
- A Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu team
- City of Rochester Sustainability and Resilience Task Force
Individual Adaptation Award
- Syd Bauer
- Mindy Granley
- Jason Edens
- Meredith Cornett
- Olivia LeDee
- Paul Douglas
- Paul Huttner
- Paul Moss
- Sara Smith
- Sunny Ruthchild
Institution Adaptation Award
- Macalester College’s Ready and Resilient Climate Adaptation Research Team
- Metropolitan Council
- Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management and U-Spatial at the University of Minnesota, Duluth for the 2019 State Hazard Mitigation Plan
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) - Fisheries Research Unit
- Northern Institute for Applied Climate Sciences
- Stearns County Soil & Water Conservation District
- University of Minnesota, Morris - Office of Sustainability and Center for Small Towns
Organization Adaptation Award
- Frogtown Green
- Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District
- Ecolibrium3
- Climate Generation: Local Stories, Community Solutions
- HealthPartners
- Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate
- Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light
- Mississippi Park Connection and the Science Museum of Minnesota for their Plant for the Future project
- South Washington Watershed District
Climate Justice Leadership Award
Business Adaptation Award
- Murphy Warehouse
- Precipitate
- Room & Board
- The Guardian Building, St. Paul
2025 Awards Committee
Syd Bauer
Co-founder
West Central Minnesota Climate Network
Jeff Bies
Senior Research Engineer
3M
Kenneth ("Kenny") Blumenfeld
Senior Climatologist
Minnesota State Climate Office
Camilla Correll
Water Resources Engineer
EOR Inc.
Howard Creel
Senior Government R&D Specialist
3M
Amanda Farris
Associate Director
University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership
Katie Frerker
Climate Adaptation Specialist
Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
Forest Service
Troy Goodnough
Sustainability Director
University of Minnesota Morris
Mindy Granley
Sustainability Officer
City of Duluth, MN
Brad Jordahl Redlin
Water Quality Certification Program Manager
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
April Mendez
CEO
Greenprint Partners
Nate Meyer
Associate Director
University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership
Patricia Ohmans
Founder and co-director
Frogtown Green
Heidi Roop
Director
University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership
Paula Zaretzky
Sustainability Analyst
Anderson Corporation
Ben Weaver