New York State celebrates Women’s History Month to highlight remarkable women deeply involved in historic events and achievements, but whose contributions too often have been denied, removed, obscured, or forgotten. By calling attention to and providing clarity about the instrumental involvement of women in leading change, we can help ensure their rightful place in history.
This year, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) focuses its Women’s History Month celebration on “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future.” in line with the National Women’s History Alliance theme. Promoting sustainability to help reduce environmental impact is a major component to achieving DEC’s goals. Women throughout DEC and with our valuable partners are initiating environmental change for the better, while promoting community resilience, equity, and leadership.
With grant funding and other productive collaborations, DEC supports the efforts of several woman-led organizations, including the RADIX Ecological Sustainability Center. RADIX is led by Co-founder and Executive Director Stacy Pettigrew, PhD, and is working in communities to promote ecological literacy and environmental stewardship through educational programs based around the demonstration of sustainable technologies.
RADIX involves the local community and teaches them how to reclaim control over essential resources, like food and water, using sustainable and regenerative practices. Atmospheric justice initiatives, biocultural diversity forest plantings, community composting, poultry farming, and river remediation are among their many projects supporting sustainability for now and the future. DEC is proud to help support many of these efforts with nearly $2 million through community impact, environmental education, and air monitoring grants.
At the core of their practices, RADIX goes beyond planting seeds in garden beds—it nurtures the seeds of knowledge. To support intergenerational equity, RADIX educates and employs local youth to carry out achievable sustainability practices for local food sources, environmental monitoring, and improvement projects.
From environmental justice work to ecosystem enhancements and promoting a culture of eco-leaders for the future, DEC supports women impacting New York State’s sustainable future. Let this month be a time to reflect that their efforts making improvements for all New Yorkers will not go unnoticed.
Our partners at the New York State Office of General Services created a new online and in-person exhibit also titled “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future.” Now on display at the New York State Capitol in Albany, the exhibit highlights 16 extraordinary New York women who are environmental stewards, advocates, scientists, and educators, many of whom have a close connection to DEC’s own history and achievements. Learn more at the Empire State Plaza website.
Recommended Reading List
Women’s History Month 2026
Biswas, Debarchana, and Anamika Barua. 2025. “Neglect to Recognition: Embracing Women as Key Agents in Climate Solutions.” Environmental Science & Policy 172 (October): 104216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104216.
Breault-Hood, Joelle, Tonia Gray, Jacqueline Ullman, and Son Truong. 2025. “Redefining Body-Self Relationships Through Outdoor Physical Activity: Experiences of Women Navigating Illness, Injury, and Disability.” Behavioral Sciences 15 (8). https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15081006.
Colwell, Rita R., and Sharon Bertsch McGrayne. 2020. A Lab of One’s Own: One Woman’s Personal Journey through Sexism in Science. Simon & Schuster.
Contreras Ameduri, Clara. 2025. “Avian Ecopedagogies: Women Ornithologists and Environmental Education in Late Nineteenth-Century America.” Alicante Journal of English Studies / Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, no. 42 (January): 73. https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.25702.
Demirci, Muhammed Ramazan. 2025. “The Position of Women in Decision-Making Processes on Environmental Issues.” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 77 (December): 101582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2025.101582.
Eswaran, Ushaa, Vivek Eswaran, Keerthna Murali, and Vishal Eswaran. 2025. “Women’s Leadership in Environmental Conservation: Challenges and Success Stories.” In Gender, Environment, and Human Rights: An Intersectional Exploration. IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-6069-9.ch012.
Guha, Supratik. 2025. Women, Gender Equality, and Environmental Justice. IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-6069-9.ch013.
Hannouch, Brittany, and Tema Milstein. 2025. “Activating Ecocentrism: How Young Women Environmental Activists Produce Identity on Instagram.” Environmental Communication 19 (2): 198–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2024.2376697.
Heidari, Marjan, and Milad Javadi. 2025. “Ecofeminism: How Women and Nature Are Both Exploited in Colonial or Capitalist Systems.” International Journal of Studies in Humanities and Social Science 1 (2): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.22034/ijshsc.v1i2.184.
Nash Jackson, Hayley, Lauren Redmore, Christopher A. Cheek, and Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek. 2026. “To Hunt or Not to Hunt: Is It That Simple for Female Hunters?” Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 53 (March): 101012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2025.101012.
Raihan, Asif, Mohammad Ridwan, Syed Masiur Rahman, et al. 2025. “Balancing Growth and Sustainability: The Role of Women’s Empowerment, Innovation, and Green Transitions.” Innovation and Green Development 4 (6): 100315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.igd.2025.100315.
Self, Margaret Anne D. 2025. “‘I’m Not a Girly-Girl’: Performances of Femininity in Campus Outdoor Recreation Staff - ProQuest.” Master of Science in Experiential and Outdoor Education, Graduate School of Western Carolina University. https://www.proquest.com/openview/80b166b5e673f9275ffb645e39dd8978/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y.
Smith, Heidi A., and Amber L. Phelps. 2025. “Transforming the Gendered Landscape of Outdoor and Environmental Education: A Profession in Search of Its Own Maturity.” Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning 0 (0): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2025.2556424.
Vicq, Madron de, and Ranee Thakar. 2026. “Climate Change, Women’s Health, and Reproductive Justice.” The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health, ahead of print, January 16. https://doi.org/10.1016/S3050-5038(25)00221-3.
Walters, Shirley, and Anna James. 2024. “Gender and Environmental Education: Feminist and Other (Ed) Perspectives. The Selected Works of Annette Gough.” International Review of Education 70 (6): 1047–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-024-10117-2.
Zimmerman, Erin. 2024. Unrooted: Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science. Melville House.