Debakey High School Senior Morgan Lipman has always been interested in the nature she could find close to home, in her own yard and in the Westbury neighborhood she has grown up in. Her decision to conserve and raise public awareness about local wildlife through her Girl Scout Gold Award Project was a natural choice.

Morgan created a website and virtual nature trail, posting QR codes (as well as nature labels and signs) along a section of trail in her neighborhood that link to informative text, and to videos and pictures of local animals and plants. She also organized a community clean up day for the Westbury Nature Conservation Trail that runs between Hummingbird Street and Bankside Drive. It is Morgan’s hope that by bringing awareness to the abundance of wildlife close to home she will encourage her community to be better caretakers of nature, reducing litter and pollution, and protecting natural areas for future generations.

About the Girl Scout Gold Award Since 1916, girls have been making meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world. The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn, acknowledges the power behind each Gold Award Girl Scout’s dedication to not only empowering and bettering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others.

Nature Discovery Center naturalists and educators are proud to serve as mentors, guides, and resources for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts working to make a difference through projects in our nature park and in our greater Houston area community. Mary Ann Beauchemin, our recently retired NDC Senior Naturalist and Park Steward, served as a Project Advisor to Morgan as she worked on the content of her website and created labels and signs for the Westbury Nature Conservation Trail.