Hudson River Sloop Clearwater 
724 Wolcott Ave, Beacon, NY 12508
(845) 265-8080

Contact:
Jen Benson, Director of Communications
 jen@clearwater.org 
585-943-7454

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2025

Clearwater Announces Spirit of the Hudson, Lifetime Contribution, and Next-Generation Environmental Leader Award Recipients

This spring Clearwater will honor lifelong Hudson River researcher Betsy Blair, rising student researcher Venuri Atulugama, and Pamela Wolff, one of Clearwater’s longest-serving on-board volunteers. 

BEACON, NY – Hudson River Sloop Clearwater will celebrate its annual Spirit of the Hudson Gala on Sunday, April 6 at the Garrison in Garrison, NY. The event will celebrate and raise funds to support the organization’s efforts to facilitate an intergenerational community of Hudson River stewards through education, advocacy, sailing, and music. 

Clearwater will honor Betsy Blair, an accomplished conservation leader with the Spirit of the Hudson Award. Over her career, Blair led the incorporation of and managed the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, and went on to a nearly three-decade tenure at the New York State Department of Conservation as the Regional Marine Habitat Manager, creating and overseeing marine and estuarine habitat protection programs along the tidal Hudson River estuary.

Long-time Clearwater Volunteer Pamela Wolff will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. After spending an afternoon aboard Clearwater in 1989 assisting at the tiller, Wolff began a 30-year tenure volunteering on board each summer until 2019. In addition, she has advocated for dock access in lower Manhattan and supported Clearwater’s Youth Empowerment Programs.

Clearwater will also honor its second Next Generation Environmental Leader Awardee, Venuri Atulugama. Atulugama is a student at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she earned a prestigious Hudson River Foundation Tibor T. Polgar Research Fellowship and is conducting and publishing research on the effects of small-scale fish passage on the abundance and size distribution of American eels in Crum Elbow Creek and the Saw Kill. Atulugama has also worked for Norrie Point Environmental Center’s The Institute Discovering Environmental Scientists (TIDES) since 2021.

The Spirit of the Hudson Gala will feature live music by Toss the Feathers, a spirited band performing traditional Irish music and song, and both a live and silent auction. Members of the public are invited to attend and/or participate in the silent auction online. More information about the 2025 Spirit of the Hudson Gala can be found at clearwater.org/gala. For full honoree bios and photos click here.

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About Hudson River Sloop Clearwater 

Launched in 1969 by legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater has been at the forefront of the environmental movement as a champion of the Hudson River. To date, more than half a million people have experienced their first real look at an estuary’s ecosystem aboard the Sloop Clearwater. Clearwater has become a grassroots model for producing positive changes to protect the waters of our planet. For more information, visit www.clearwater.org