Dick Shriver of Old Lyme Among Recipients of Rockfall Foundation’s ‘Environmental Champion’ Awards

MIDDLETOWN–The Rockfall Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2025 Environmental Champion Awards, including ‘Estuary’ magazine founder and Old Lyme resident Dick Shriver. 

The environmental conservation and education organization in a press release identified Shriver as a recipient of its Certificate of Environmental Achievement for promoting conservation and stewardship of the Connecticut River Watershed. 

The award will be presented during Rockfall’s 90th Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown. 

Shriver, a U.S. Air Force veteran who went on to an esteemed career in government and private industry, retired to Old Lyme in 2007. From the place where the Connecticut River meets the Long Island Sound, he launched estuary magazine in 2020 to focus on the vast Connecticut River watershed spanning four states. 

According to the Connecticut River Conservancy, Shriver has held executive positions including assistant secretary of the US Treasury Department and Senior Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank. In academia, he has served as professor of business finance and marketing at the International Management Institute in Kiev, Ukraine and Executive-in-Residence at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. 

Also receiving Rockfall’s Certificate of Environmental Achievement is Diana Martinez, a Middletown agriculture and environmental justice advocate and creator of the Miller Street Community Farm and Pathways to Agriculture program. 

The Oct. 8 event will feature a keynote address by Christine Palm, a former state representative and climate education advocate, about engaging youth in climate action and advocacy. Palm will receive Rockfall’s President’s Award, given once every ten years, recognizing her decades of leadership in environmental policy and education. 

The Tom Odell Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Bruce Dodson, the Killingworth Land Conservation Trust leader who helped protect over 1,100 acres of open space; and Chet Arnold, Essex Land Trust leader and co-founder of the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research. 

The anniversary celebration and award presentation will include live music, food, and displays from 2025 Rockfall grant recipients. Tickets are $75 for members and $90 for nonmembers.

For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.