LFOLA announces the inaugural Susie Hoffmann Award for Nature and Conservation
Lake Forest Open Lands Association offers the Susie Hoffmann Award for Nature and Conservation to a 2025 Lake Forest High School graduating senior passionate about the natural world. Through this award, LFOLA celebrates Hoffmann’s years of dedication to empowering young people throughout Lake County.
One of the things that makes the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff community so special is the amount of open space for all to enjoy. Since 1967 Lake Forest Open Lands has been a leader among land trusts, both locally and nationally. LFOLA has been steadfast in the commitment to save and preserve the community’s remarkable open spaces. Today they actively restore and maintain 10 nature preserves and over 20 miles of trail, encompassing over 930 acres while providing educational programming year-round for all ages.
Additionally, LFOLA’s education mission has collaborated for nearly three decades with Districts 64, 67, and 115 for educational field trips that align with classroom curriculum. For the past 15 years, the Center for Conservation Leadership has engaged with residents throughout Lake County to instill a conservation ethic, engaging people where they are and inspiring them to activate their conservation ethic in a way that feels right for them.
“We have always had a close partnership with Lake Forest High School,” said Ryan London, President and CEO of Lake Forest Open Lands, and LFHS alum. LFHS students work side by side with LFOLA’s land stewardship team at Eco-Crew volunteer workdays throughout the school year. “This is where we see the passion take seed, removing buckthorn, an invasive species, improving the land, protecting habitat. It’s through the hands-on work that the students really see it in action.”
“In the river!” said Julia Lunn, Director or Engagement and the Center for Conservation Leadership. The engagement team works with LFHS students through the annual RiverWatch study of the North Branch of the Chicago River in LFOLA’s Skokie Nature Preserve. Lunn says that is where she sees the connection happen for students. “The study has students literally immersed in the river wearing waist high waders measuring turbidity, velocity, and biodiversity. Curiosity and interest are peaked through this workshop and students want to pursue more opportunities through volunteer work or citizen science.”
Susie Hoffmann dedicated much of her career to creating spaces for high school students in conservation. She saw the outdoors as a rich classroom and conceived and led the Center for Conservation Leadership at Lake Forest Open Lands. What began as an environmental stewardship program for high school students in Lake Forest and surrounding underserved communities has evolved into a program serving residents of all ages and abilities throughout Lake County.
The Susie Hoffmann Award for Nature and Conservation honors a person deeply passionate about both the natural world and empowering young people and offers support to a young person pursuing that passion beyond high school.
Is it awarded to LFHS graduating seniors who demonstrate their connection to the natural world and a commitment to land conservation and stewardship.
Qualified LFHS applicants can find the award posted at lfola.org/SusieHoffmannAward.
For more information contact Julia Lunn at jlunn@lfola.org.