Recognition is awarded at the Conference event each year. The Board of Directors ratifies nominations received from the membership and others. See more about awards and criteria here.

• Paul K. Petzoldt Leadership Award
• Frank Lupton Service Award
• WEA Organizational Member Award
• WEA Outstanding Certified Outdoor Educator Award
• WEA Student Leader Award

Paul K. Petzoldt Leadership Award

• 1988 Tap Tapley
• 1989 Bjorn Kjellstrom
• 1990 Josh Miner
• 1991 Not awarded
• 1992 Raye Ringholz
• 1993 Glen Exum
• 1994 Yvon Chouinard
• 1995 Jim Fowler
• 1996 Vance Martin
• 1997 Dave Foreman
• 1998 Betty van der Smissen
• 1999 Frank Lupton
• 2000 John Netherton
• 2001 David Brower & Kenneth Brower
• 2002 Buck Tilton
• 2003 Bill McKibben
• 2004 Bob Christie
• 2005 William “Doc” Forgey, M.D.
• 2006 Christine Cashel
• 2007 Phil Powers
• 2008 Richard Louv
• 2009 Joel Meier, Ph.D.
• 2010 John Gookin
• 2011 Leo McAvoy
• 2012 Greg Lais
• 2013 John Bicknell
• 2014 Deb Ajango
• 2015 Guy Savoie
• 2016 James Mills
• 2017 Kelli McMahan
• 2018 Laura McGladrey
• 2019 Not awarded
• 2020 Michael McGowan
• 2021 Not awarded
• 2022 Not awarded
• 2023 Luis Benitez
• 2024 Mark Wagstaff

Frank Lupton Service Award

• 1989 Sandy Braun
• 1990 Chris Cashel
• 1991 Not awarded
• 1992 Kent Clement & Duane Gould
• 1993 Mark Wagstaff
• 1994 Dare Bible
• 1995 Bruce Bonney
• 1996 Cheryl Teeters
• 1997 Rená Koessler
• 1998 Paul Harbison
• 1999 Paul Petzoldt & Mike Carlton
• 2000 Scoob Dooben
• 2001 Not awarded
• 2002 Steve Gustafson
• 2003 Jack Drury
• 2004 Dave Calvin
• 2005 Dene Berman
• 2006 Maurice Phipps
• 2007 Steve Spencer
• 2008 Jim Lustig
• 2009 Ivan Bartha
• 2010 Tom Stuessy
• 2011 Bob Christie
• 2012 Les Teuber
• 2013 Chris Pelchat
• 2015 Scott Jordan
• 2016 Ricky Haro
• 2017 Brad Daniel
• 2018 Will Hobbs
• 2019 Not awarded
• 2020 Sarah Schneider
• 2021 Not awarded
• 2022 Not awarded
• 2023 Kevin Sutton
• 2024 Not awarded

Outstanding Organizational Member Award 

• 2006 Oklahoma State University
• 2007 Indiana University
• 2008 Coal. for Christian Outreach
• 2009 Western Illinois University
• 2010 Western Kentucky University
• 2011 CSU-Pueblo
• 2012 Radford University
• 2013 Montreat College
• 2014 University of Central Oklahoma
• 2015 Rare Earth Adventures
• 2016 Stanford University
• 2017 Not awarded
• 2018 Not awarded
• 2019 Not awarded
• 2020 Not awarded
• 2021 Not awarded
• 2022 Not awarded
• 2023 Not awarded
• 2024 Not awarded

Outstanding Certified Outdoor Educator Award 

• 2006 Mark Wagstaff
• 2007 Jack Drury
• 2008 Francisco Detrell
• 2009 Paul Harbison
• 2010 Mathew Erpelding
• 2011 Jeff Tindall
• 2012 Scott Jordan
• 2013 Not awarded
• 2014 Not awarded
• 2015 Taito Okamura
• 2016 Not awarded
• 2017 Guan-Jang Wu
• 2018 Andrew Bobilya
• 2019 Not awarded
• 2020 Not awarded
• 2021 Not awarded
• 2022 Not awarded
• 2023 Will Hobbs
• 2024 Not awarded

WEA Student Leader Award

• 2006 Aya Hayashi
• 2007 Whitney Ward
• 2008 Aiko Yoshino
• 2009 Lauren Barnes
• 2010 Nathaniel Millard
• 2011 Pat Lewis
• 2012 Not awarded
• 2013 Not awarded
• 2014 Not awarded
• 2015 Rebecca Roehm
• 2016 Kevin Sutton
• 2017 Not awarded
• 2018 Quinn Linford
• 2019 Not awarded
• 2020 Jess Port
• 2021 Not awarded
• 2022 Not awarded
• 2023 Not awarded
• 2024 Not awarded