Montclair Teen Earns Award For Work At Bonsal Wildlife Preserve

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A senior at Montclair High School has earned an award for a “remarkable” environmental project he carried out at the Alonzo F. Bonsal Wildlife Preserve.

Logan Bateman recently undertook a remarkable remediation project in the Bonsal Preserve, mobilizing nearly 30 people to help him build foot bridges and plant about 40 trees. Read More: Montclair Scout's Eagle Project Is Good News For Wildlife Preserve

The effort has earned him a Carlie Kontos Environmental Activist Award, funded by the Silvio Laccetti Foundation. Bateman, whose effort mobilized some 30 people to complete the work, built foot bridges and planted approximately 40 trees in the preserve.

The award is named for Charlie Kontos, who passed away in 2010 and, at the time, was enrolled as a doctoral student in the Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program administered by Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

Bateman, whose grandfather was a Rutgers alumnus, is the second winner of the Kontos Award. The previous winner was Connor Cunningham of Glen Rock High, who now attends Duke University.

The award organizers aren’t the only ones to shine a light on Bateman’s work; Gov. Phil Murphy also gave the Montclair teen a call to thank him for his work at the Bonsal preserve.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Montclair Facebook page.