Sarah Metzger is described by a colleague as “informed, passionate about her work and infectiously persuasive about environmental issues.” An engineering coordinator at the City of Pasadena’s Public Works department, Metzger works tirelessly to promote environmental stewardship in her community.

  Metzger’s greatest passion is educating others about the beautiful coastal environment in which she lives, and much of her effort is focused on schools. She gives presentations on the importance of preserving the ecosystem and guides field trips—on one outing, she led students to help mark storm drains as part of a citywide pollution-prevention program. Metzger also trains high school students on how to teach younger children about the environment.

  To ensure the message lives beyond her visit, Metzger created outreach brochures, pamphlets, and videos. She began an Adopt-A-Waterway program to give citizens a sense of ownership as they work to improve water quality, and she wrote the Construction Alliance Handbook, a pollution-prevention publication for builders in the Galveston Bay area. In the spring of 2006, she organized the city’s first environmental fair.

  Pasadena Director of Planning Tim Tietjens summed up Metzger’s contribution by saying “The citizens of the city of Pasadena and the Galveston Bay area, as well as our rivers, bayous, and bay are better off because of the work of Sarah Metzger.” Through her tireless volunteer efforts, Sarah Metzger has helped the people of Pasadena learn a little bit more about taking care of the world in which they live.