Cranbury teen wins environmental award for speaking against climate change

Stony Brook Garden Club announced that Aurora Yuan, a current senior at Princeton High School, has received the Elly and Giorgio Petronio Environmental Award.

Since the seventh grade, Aurora has been active in her fight for the environment. She has held leadership positions in Princeton High School’s Climate Action Club, the NJ Youth for Climate Action, the NJ Student Sustainability Coalition, the US Youth Climate Strike, and she is an organizer with Fridays For Future USA (Greta Thunberg’s organization), according to information provided by the club.

Aurora has organized teach-ins and climate rallies, and she has developed social media content, podcasts and webinars in her advocacy toward the environment. She has been involved with a nationwide non-profit called Turning Green where she went from a participant having successfully completed a 30-day Green Challenge, to an ambassador and a mentor, and finally a summer intern, according to the statement.

Aurora will continue this work in college, having been accepted to Johns Hopkins University.

The Elly and Giorgio Petronio-Stony Brook Garden Club Environmental Award was established in 2006. This $1,000 scholarship is available to a junior or senior attending a high school in the greater Princeton area who demonstrates a passion for and a commitment to our environment. He/she must have been actively involved in one or more of the following: research, advocacy, horticulture, protection or improvement of the natural world.