Allison Rockefeller's Wardrobe Conservation and the Cure for Nature Deficit Disorder

Allison Rockefeller, Elizabeth Titus Putnam, and Dale Penny

In a video screened at the National Audubon Society Women in Conservation Luncheon today, Allison Rockefeller described the Rachel Carson Awards, which she founded, and a new internship program placing young women in National Audubon Society's offices.

Then Ms. Rockefeller arrived at the podium -- looking very much the same as she did in the video.

"Before I came up here, my mother says to me, 'You're wearing the same dress'" Ms. Rockefeller said, before stepping away from the podium and doing a twirl in her robin's egg blue sheath dress.

Was it a scolding made public? Was she making an apology? Hardly. Ms. Rockefeller turned her wardrobe conservation into a moment of levity. And that about sums up Ms. Rockefeller: focused on the issues she cares about, happy to call attention to the fact that she indeed wore a dress twice, comfortable enough with herself to make a joke out of it.

And then it was back to business: "I have to do a plug. I have to do a sales job," Ms. Rockefeller said. "A wonderful donor has given us $40,000 today. Don't let that deter you. There are cards at your table and we want you to write a big number on them, so we can bring more girls to work at Audubon New York's very chic TriBeCa headquarters."

The internship program -- which Ms. Rockefeller said may be expanding to include students from the Chapin School -- is part of the society's effort to engage young people in conservation. Another initiative well-known to Park Slopers is the Audubon Center in Prospect Park, which offers educational programs offering contact with nature.

Engaging youth was a strong theme in this year's selection of the Rachel Carson Award winners

Elizabeth Titus Putnam received the honor for founding the Student Conservation Association, which since 1957 has grown from 53 volunteers to its current level of 4,000 volunteers, who are doing 2 million hours of service annually at 500 sites in all 50 states. The organization, whose president now is Dale Penny, also has 5,000 alumni, including Ms. Roosevelt, who worked for 10 weeks on backcountry restoration crews in Canyonland and North Cascades national parks when she was in high school, and was the the first alumna chairwoman of the Student Conservation Association board.

"We must address the nature deficit disorder in this country today," Ms. Putnam said.

The president and chief executive of Recreational Equipment Inc., Sally Jewell, had the same message, which she delivered along with shocking statistics: children are spending 46 hours a week in front of a screen, and only 30 minutes outside. "This weekend, take a child by the hand and take them outdoors, will ya?" Oh, and she assured her New York audience they'll be able to go out in REI style soon: the outdoor outfitting emporium based in Seattle has plans to open stores in the tri-state area.

Also honored were the women behind NBC Universal's green initative, Elizabeth Colleton, Jane Evans, and Susan Haspel, and Sylvia Earle, the deep sea explorer whose foundation is working with Google to create "Ocean in Google Earth."

"You have swept me off my flippers," Ms. Earle said of the standing ovation she received on her way up to the podium. She reminded guests to think of fish, not just wildlife, when they think about conservation. "Without blue, no green," she said.

The group of women who selected the award recipients included Jane Alexander, Nicole Miller, Liz Neumark, Wendy Paulson, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, and Connie Rogers Roosevelt. Bernadette Castro and Marian Heiskell were the honorary chairwomen of the event, which this year will support Audubon's Long Island Sound Campaign.

Ms. Neumark's catering company Great Performances prepared the meal, featuring organic and sustainable food, some from the company's Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, New York. The menu: a pea tart, tomato tart, and roasted vegetable pave for the appetizer; roasted chicken with local shell bean ragout and corn dusted zucchini blossoms for the entree; and earl grey pound cake with blackberry cream for dessert.