Riverkeeper is thrilled to once again come together at its 2023 Summer Splash gala to celebrate the Hudson River and the long-time activists and heroes who are fighting to keep it safe and clean. Summer Splash will be held at Boscobel House and Gardens, a beautiful historic estate in Garrison, NY with some of the best Hudson River views around.
We are proud to honor Fran Dunwell with our 2023 Big Fish Award in recognition of her decades fighting for the Hudson River as the founder and coordinator of the Hudson River Estuary Program at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. We are also pleased to present our Hudson Hero Award to Dr. David O. Carpenter, environmental advocate and professor at SUNY Albany, for his work highlighting risks from environmental contaminants in New York State, including PCBs in the Hudson and related dumping sites.
Your ticket purchase or generous donation to the Summer Splash will provide crucial support for our work protecting and restoring the Hudson River and its tributaries and safeguarding drinking water for millions of New Yorkers. We hope you'll join us as we come together once again to celebrate our clean water victories and renew our shared commitment to the Hudson River.
Dinner will be served. Garden party attire recommended.
Big Fish Award Honoree
Fran Dunwell
Fran Dunwell recently retired as the Hudson River Estuary Coordinator at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), a position she held from 1984-2022. In that role, she managed the implementation of the state's Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda and its $6.5 million annual budget. The Estuary Program organizes many partners to conserve the tidal Hudson and the extraordinary natural heritage of its watershed, using programs founded in science and implemented in ways that support the quality of life of the valley's residents. Prior to working for NYSDEC, she was Executive Director of the Center for the Hudson River Valley, and then Associate Director of Scenic Hudson. Dunwell has a Master's degree in environmental studies from Yale University and a Bachelor's degree in anthropology from Kirkland College. Dunwell is also the author of two award winning books -The Hudson River Highlands (1991) and The Hudson: America's River (2008). Read our recent blog post about Fran's work here.
Hudson Hero Award Honoree
David O. Carpenter
David O. Carpenter is a public health physician and Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment, a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization, at the University at Albany. After receiving his MD from Harvard Medical School he chose a career of research and public health. Dr. Carpenter's research was initially basic neuroscience and has since focused on the more general question of environmental causes of human disease, both those directly caused by chemical exposure and those mediated via endocrine disruption. He has more than 450 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has edited six books.
Riverkeeper Summer Splash 2023 Host Committee
Join Our Host Committee!
Watershed Protectors
Carolyn Marks Blackwood and Gregory Quinn
Katharine Butler
Nicholas P. Groombridge and Kim Conner
Lucile Hamlin
Dale and Laura Kutnick
River Guardians
1199 SEIU / Maria Castaneda
Avery Gilbert
Alexandra Herzan
River Stewards
Tonio Burgos & Associates, Inc.
Eileen Fisher Foundation
Karenna Gore
Ellen Kozak
Tom and Christina Lewis
Judith L. Mogul and Daniel Kramer
Jeffrey Scales and Leola Specht / JSA ESG Impact
Ernest Tollerson and Katrinka Leefmans
Auction Chair
Heidi Albertsen