Stella Bowles
{{short description|Canadian environmentalist}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Stella Marguerite Bowles
| honorific_suffix = M.S.M. O.N.S.
| image = My River - Cleaning Up the LaHave River - Stella Bowles with Anne Laurel Carter.jpg
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| birth_place = Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada
| nationality = Canadian
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| known_for = Her grade 6 science project brought attention to river pollution in the LaHave River and prompted three levels of government to commit $15 million dollars to clean up the LaHave River
| awards = Order of Nova Scotia
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| website = {{URL|https://twitter.com/stellabowles}}{{URL|https://earlgrey5.wixsite.com/stellab}}
| footnotes =
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Stella Marguerite Bowles {{post-nominals|ONS|MSM}}{{Cite web|title=The Order of Nova Scotia names its youngest recipient ever|url=https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/the-order-of-nova-scotia-names-its-youngest-recipient-ever-2880218|access-date=2021-01-06|website=HalifaxToday.ca|language=en}} is a Canadian environmentalist, writer, and the youngest recipient of the Order of Nova Scotia.{{cite news |url=https://www.halifaxtoday.ca/local-news/the-order-of-nova-scotia-names-its-youngest-recipient-ever-2880218 |title=The Order of Nova Scotia names its youngest recipient ever - Environmentalist Stella Bowles first gained attention for testing the LaHave River in 2015 |date=2020-11-16 |first=Matt |last=Brand |publisher=Halifax Today }}{{cite web |url=https://novascotia.ca/iga/2020recipients.asp |title=Order of Nova Scotia - Recipients 2020 |year=2020 |access-date=2021-01-05 }}{{cite news |title='I have no words': Order of Nova Scotia awarded to youngest recipient to date |author1=Nick Moore |author2=Leigha Farnell |date=2020-11-13 |url=https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/i-have-no-words-order-of-nova-scotia-awarded-to-youngest-recipient-to-date-1.5187416}} Canada also recognized Stella with a Meritorious Service Medal.{{cite web |publisher=Meritorious Service Decorations |url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/136-53272 |title=Stella Bowles, Meritorious Service Medal |date=2017-10-17 |access-date=2021-01-05 |quote=Elementary school student Stella Bowles studied the contamination of the LaHave River near her home for a science project. When she discovered that untreated sewage was polluting the river, she used social media to gather support to have it cleaned up. As her online following grew, the media took notice and, eventually, all three levels of government pledged funds toward improving the water quality. }}{{cite press release |title=Congratulations to Stella Bowles |date=2020-11-16 |url=https://ssrce.ca/congratulations-to-stella-bowles/ |publisher=South Shore Regional Centre for Education }} As an advocate for youth activism,{{cite news |title=Stella Bowles, eco-kid |publisher=CBC Kids News |date=2018-08-08 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/profile-stella-bowles-eco-kid }}{{cite interview |url=https://thegreeninterview.com/interview/teenage-citizen-scientist-inspires-hope/ |title=Stella BOWLES - Teenage Citizen Scientist Inspires Hope |date= April 2019 }} Stella co-wrote a book for children titled My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River with Anne Laurel Carter,{{cite book |title=My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39828346-my-river |publisher=Formac Publishing Company Limited |date=2019-01-01|author1=Anne Laurel Carter |author2=Stella Bowles |isbn=978-1459505513 }} Stella gave a TEDx talk about her project on the LaHave River titled Oh poop! It's worse than I thought.{{cite AV media |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/stella_bowles_oh_poop_it_s_worse_than_i_thought |author=Stella Bowles |date=December 2019 |title=Oh poop! It's worse than I thought |publisher=TEDx - MSVU Women}}
Early life
At age 11, Stella wanted to swim in the LaHave River, but her mother said the water was contaminated by illegal straight pipes that flush unprocessed sewage directly into the river. Her mentor, Dr. David Maxwell, helped her start testing bacteria levels in water samples from the river. Stella drew national attention when she reported the bacterial pollution levels that she measured. Stella's project influenced the allocation of $15.7 million from federal, provincial, and municipal governments to remove the straight pipes by 2023.
She attends school at Dalhousie University.{{Cite web |title=Stella Bowles – Community Hero Program |url=https://communityhero.ca/hero/stella-bowles/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |language=en-US}}
Career
Stella now presents at conferences and in schools.{{cite speech |title=The LaHave River Project: How My Science Fair Project Created Opportunity and Positive Change in A Nova Scotia Community |date=2019-09-10 |author=Stella Bowles, M.S.M. |url=https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/event/lahave-river-project-how-my-science-fair-project-created-opportunity-and-positive-change-nova }} She now teaches other kids how to test water in their communities.
Stella is politically active. She spent a day with Elizabeth May at parliament. About meeting with May, Stella said, “[she] felt really great that she took time to talk to me” and understand Stella's advocacy message, which is that “We only have one Earth and it’s kind of going downhill right now and a lot of people aren’t standing up, and I really want people to know that even if you’re 12 or 50 or 80, you can make a difference.”{{cite news |title=Political seeds planted by local activism for Bridgewater's Stella Bowles |url=https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/now-atlantic/political-seeds-planted-by-local-activism-for-bridgewaters-stella-bowles-360989/ |author=Colin Chisholm |date=2019-10-07}}
She also introduced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a gathering at St. Francis Xavier University.
The LaHave River cleanup project will divert 100 straight pipes per year until 2023 when all of the raw sewage will stop flowing.{{cite web |title=How One Kid Stopped the Contamination of the LaHave River in Nova Scotia |first=Nicole |last=Javorsky |date=2019-09-25 |url=https://www.asf.ca/news-and-magazine/salmon-news/how-one-kid-stopped-the-contamination-of-the-lahave-river-in-nova-scotia}}
Stella has also taken her advocacy abroad beyond Canada.{{cite news |title=N.S. teen heading to New York for exclusive college-level environmental program |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5449363/stella-bowles-switzerland-environment/ |date=2019-07-01 |first=Sarah |last=Ritchie |publisher=Global News }}
Awards
- In 2020, Stella was the youngest-ever recipient of the Order of Nova Scotia.
- In 2018, Stella was the only Canadian to win a Young Eco-Hero Awards.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-teen-wins-international-award-for-river-cleanup-work-1.4776331 |title=Nova Scotia teen wins international award for river cleanup work |author=Danielle d'Entremont |publisher=CBC News |date=2018-08-07 }}{{cite web |url=https://actionfornature.org/eco-hero-awards/2018-awards |title=Action For Nature - FIRST PLACE - Stella - Age 14 - Nova Scotia, Canada - Young Citizen Scientist |year=2018 }}
- In 2017, Stella received Canada's Meritorious Service Medal
External links
- [https://www.facebook.com/LaHaveRiver123/ Stella's LaHave River Project in Facebook]
References
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Category:Members of the Order of Nova Scotia
Category:People from Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia