2017 Alison J. Walsh Award for Outstanding Environmental Advocacy
Bob Aldrich of Bristol, R.I.
President of Save Bristol Harbor
Bob Aldrich is president of Save Bristol Harbor, a non-profit organization that has been actively protecting Bristol Harbor, Narragansett Bay and Mt. Hope Bay for 15 years. Under Aldrich’s leadership, Save Bristol Harbor has maintained numerous all-volunteer programs focused on educating the public and enlisting the help of community members in protecting these natural waterways. Also under his leadership, the organization built a predictive habitat model, in collaboration with the University of Rhode Island (URI) Graduate School of Oceanography, that is recognized and used by the Bristol Harbor Commission to predict waterfront development impacts on the harbor. The former Raytheon executive also has participated in the URI Watershed Watch Program for seven years, leads a group of volunteers who teach fourth-graders in the Bristol Warren Regional School District about the Narragansett Bay watershed, and continues to teach local high school students about the watershed and how to protect it through Save The Bay’s field studies program with Mount Hope High School. In his nomination of Aldrich, Keith Maloney said Aldrich “is a most deserving individual who deserves recognition for all he has done and is doing to protect our local waters.”