Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute

The Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute is the outreach arm of Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. On August 27, 1971, a little over a year after the celebration of the first Earth Day, Northland College hosted its first environmental conference. Among those invited to address the two-day conference were United States Senator Gaylord Nelson, and Sigurd Olson. The conference became "the instrument of origin of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute," as Robert Matteson, the founder of the Institute, wrote. With energy to move in a new and exciting direction, and guided by the philosophies of Sigurd Olson, the Institute opened its doors in spring of 1972, embarking on more than 30 years of serving Northland College and the Lake Superior region.

The Institute, in the spirit of Sigurd Olson, empowers citizens to be good stewards of the environment by facilitating solutions to environmental problems in the North Country through education, research, and citizen involvement.

LoonWatch, a program of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, protects common loons and their aquatic habitats through education, monitoring, and research. Though their primary focus is Wisconsin, their education and research activities extend to Upper Great Lakes region, such as Michigan and Minnesota. The Watch also lends support to North American conservation efforts by working with loon conservation organizations across the United States and Canada. LoonWatch, its Advisory Council, and volunteers are all working toward common goals of loon conservation and protection.

In 1974, inspirational conservationist and writer Sigurd F. Olson won the John Burroughs Medal for his book, Wilderness Days. Since 1992, and in the spirit of celebrating Sigurd’s literary legacy, the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute (SOEI) at Northland College has recognized remarkable environmental adult literature that captures the spirit of the human relationship with the natural world, and promotes the values that preserve or restore the land for future generations.

Since 2004, the SOEI has recognized a children's book of literacy nature writing—nonfiction or fiction—that captures the spirit of the human relationship with nature, and promotes the awareness, preservation, appreciation, or restoration of the natural world for future generations.

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