Environmental Scholars Match Skills at Arizona Envirothon

Basis Tucson North Repeats as Champions

Arizona high schoolers demonstrated their mastery of environmental principles and problem solving at the 2026 Arizona Envirothon competition. Basis Tucson North took top honors. Arizona Agribusiness and Equine Center – Paradise Valley and Peoria’s Centennial High School earned silver and bronze.

Eleven Arizona high school teams met at Friendly Pines Camp in Prescott on Friday to test their field skills in aquatic ecology, water quality, forestry and wildlife management, soil science, land use and agriculture. On Saturday, teams presented to judges their recommended strategies to assess and reduce non-point source pollutants, specifically biological waste (E. coli) contamination, in the Oak Creek watershed.

The top students’ recommendations included monitoring wildlife activity, reducing wildlife drawn to human structures and trash in the area, designing riparian buffers to reduce sediment carrying contaminants into the creek, and educating and incentivizing visitors’ and residents’ behaviors to minimize E. coli transport in the creek.

The Basis Tucson North champions will represent Arizona at the international NCF Envirothon, at Mississippi State University in Starkville July 19 - 25. Team members include Celine Liu, Faith Yang, Eddie Tsai, Nikita Le, Andrew Wu, and coach John-Paul Mann.

Five-member teams from seven high schools competed for honors and prizes. Schools from throughout the state included:

Phoenix (Bioscience HS, Ariz Agribusiness and Equine Center, Paradise Valley and South Mountain campuses and, Sierra Linda HS)
Avondale (Agua Fria HS)
Peoria (Centennial HS)
Tucson (Basis Tucson North).