FGCU Student Takes Home Murphy Award for Environmental Children’s Book Illustrations

Florida Gulf Coast University student Macy Noll was honored with the Murphy Award from the Marine and Environmental Resources Task Force (MERTF) after creating colorful illustrations for a book teaching kids about nature.

“Illustrating this environmentally educational activity booklet was such a joy,” Noll told the Fort Myers Beach Observer and Bulletin. “It was particularly nostalgic because my first artworks were definitely crayon scribbles in a coloring book. I've always had such an appreciation for the natural world thanks to the nature documentaries my grandparents always put on for me and I would have loved a coloring booklet that also illustrated the ecological concepts that held me so captivated in those films."

The illustrated guide has found its way into thousands of classrooms and youth groups since coming out. Local groups, including the Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation and Turtle Time Inc., helped get the book into more hands.

With Jennifer Rusk serving as MERTF Vice Chair, the book came together with a simple goal: teaching both tourists and residents how to protect natural areas.

“She illustrated the very first Fort Myers Beach Children's Activity Book,” Rusk said. “These books are more important than ever to help educate and to environmentally encourage the Community & Visitors to be more involved and responsible. This benefits us all,” Rusk told the Fort Myers Beach Observer and Bulletin.

Noll is pursuing a double major in art and biology and is also a research assistant and scientific scuba diver at Vester Marine and Environmental Research Field Station. She's also involved in marine mural projects and is putting together an exhibit about water conservation.