Ohio Sea Grant and Ohio State University's Stone Lab

2023 Margaret Douglas Medal

For its outstanding clean water research and educational leadership.

Proposed by: Akron Garden Club, Zone X

Ohio Sea Grant and Ohio State University's Stone Lab is a national leader in research and education on water quality and the environment. Located at Ohio State University’s Columbus campus, it is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 34 Sea Grant Programs dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources.

Stone Laboratory, its education and outreach facility on Lake Erie, serves scientists from across the Great Lakes region, offering lab facilities, field work equipment, research vessels, and housing for researchers studying Lake Erie. Its classes, workshops, and field trips at Stone Lab give students and working professionals the knowledge they need to protect Lake Erie. By combining research, education, and outreach, in collaboration with Great Lakes communities, its dedicated staff guide decisions regarding Lake Erie and the region’s environmental issues and are responsible for national water alerts and public safety.

For more than 40 years, Ohio Sea Grant and Ohio State University's Stone Lab has worked to protect the environment of Lake Erie and the Great Lakes and provide water quality research to the nation.

The Margaret Douglas Medal is awarded for notable service to the cause of conservation education.

The Margaret Douglas Medal was endowed by Priscilla Sleeper Sterling (Mrs. Robert D. Sterling), Garden Club of Dublin and Monadnock Garden Club, both Zone I, to honor Margaret Bell Douglas (Mrs. Walter Douglas: 1890–1963), GCA member-at-large. The medal was designed by Art Deco sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan in 1952. A native of Canada, Margaret spent much of her adult life in the American Southwest and Mexico. She is credited with the introduction of the papaya crop to Mexico and she helped establish the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ. She was the recipient of the GCA’s Achievement Medal in 1954.

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