UAB Wooster Award — Dr. Paul C. Erwin, MD, DrPH, Dean of the UAB School of Public Health and Charles Scribner, Executive Director, Black Warrior Riverkeeper. (UAB School of Public Health)

UAB School of Public Health awarded its annual Lou Wooster Public Health Hero Award to the Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

Presented during Public Health Week, the award celebrates a public health hero whose work makes a difference in the community’s health through atypical means.

Wooster honoree Black Warrior Riverkeeper

Birmingham — Black Warrior Riverkeeper volunteers after a cleanup (Black Warrior Riverkeeper)

A non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Black Warrior River and its tributaries, the Black Warrior Riverkeeper was founded 24 years ago in 2001.

Some of their 2024 accomplishments include:

Ran 33 litter cleanups, removing over 19,618 pounds of trash from the watershed
Passed the milestone of 100,000 pounds of litter removed by the Volunteer Cleanups Program since 2021
Wrote comment letters to government agencies requesting improvements to 26 permits and/or water rules
Monitored 93 facilities across the 17-county basin on patrols by foot, truck, canoe, boat and drone
Reviewed 455 facilities’ Discharge Monitoring Report to record the number and nature of their violations
Collected and analyzed 1,070 water samples, regularly publishing ambient water quality data on their website

“Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s essential work of protecting our water resource epitomizes what the Lou Wooster Hero Award is about.

As a Black Warrior Riverkeeper board member and UAB School of Public Health faculty member, I believe this milestone speaks volumes about what partnerships with the community and public health advocacy can accomplish.”
Dr. Mercy Aula, Black Warrior Riverkeeper Board Member

The namesake for the honor, Lou Wooster, was a madam during the 19th century who was credited for helping save Birmingham during the cholera epidemic of 1873.

The awards’ first honoree was Rep. Patricia Todd in 2007.

Other Wooster winners over the years include:

John Archibald
Don Lupo
Frank Stitt
Joyce Vance
Dr. Mark Wilson
Pathways of Birmingham
Birmingham United Neighborhoods.

“We are grateful to Black Warrior Riverkeeper for their clear acknowledgement and understanding of the connections between the public’s health and the health of the Black Warrior watershed. Their contributions are exactly the kind of work that Lou Wooster would have celebrated.”
Paul C. Erwin, MD, DrPH, Dean of the UAB School of Public Health

Want to learn more about Lou Wooster? Check out her colorful story on Bhamwiki. You can also pay homage to her at the Oak Hill Cemetery.