The winners of “The Invader Files” Youth Art Contest have been announced by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Invasive Species Program.
As part of the California Invasive Species Action Week, 49 youths from across California submitted their original artwork. Participants were asked to pick an invasive species that causes harm to native species or the environment in California and submit their illustration of that invader and the harm it causes. The top three posters for each grade division were selected by members of the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee and the poster which best exemplified the contest theme was selected as the CDFW Invasive Species Program Choice Award.
Amelie Ingram, 10, a student at Fred T. Korematsu Elementary School in Davis, was named the winner of the Invasive Species Program Choice Award. Ingram created a comic depicting the common coqui (frog) displacing native species.
“What happens in real life is invasive species take resources like water, food and space/home from native animals,” Ingram wrote. “As they overpopulate, less native animals have homes. They are small, but scary.”
The top three winners of the 2016 Invasive Species Action Week Youth Art Contest divisions were:
Grades 2-4
- First Place: Elsa Thornton, 10, Fort Washington Elementary School, Fresno
- Second Place: Rylynn Shackelford, 9, Fort Washington Elementary School, Fresno
- Third Place: Addison Galaviz, 10, Fort Washington Elementary School, Fresno
First Place, Grades 2-4: Elsa Thornton, 10, Fort Washington Elementary School, Fresno 
Second Place, Grades 2-4: Rylynn Shackelford, 9, Fort Washington Elementary School, Fresno 
Third Place, Grades 2-4: Addison Galaviz, 10, Fort Washington Elementary School, Fresno
Grades 5-8
- First Place: Luke Jiang, 11, Homeschool, Rancho Cordova,
Second Place: Andre Russell, 11, Fort Washington Elementary School, Fresno - Third Place: Malia Jones, 11, Heron Elementary, Sacramento
First Place, Grades 5-8: Luke Jiang, 11, Homeschool, Rancho Cordova, 
Second Place, Grades 5-8: Andre Russell, 11, Fort Washington Elementary School, Fresno 
Third Place, Grades 5-8: Malia Jones, 11, Heron Elementary, Sacramento
Grades 9-12
- First Place: Bey Westcott, 18, Granada High School, Livermore
- Second Place: Valerie Felismino, 17, Granada High School, Livermore
- Third Place: Katey Rademann, 16, Granada High School, Livermore
First Place, Grades 9-12: Bey Westcott, 18, Granada High School, Livermore 
Second Place, Grades 9-12: Valerie Felismino, 17, Granada High School, Livermore 
Third Place, Grades 9-12: Katey Rademann, 16, Granada High School, Livermore
CDFW congratulates all the participants for their excellent work and thanks the teachers, nature centers, volunteer organizations and parents who encouraged, educated and assisted the students.
All submissions are currently on display in the Nimbus Hatchery Visitor Center in Gold River. They can also be viewed online at:https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-vFHRGZmgqjTkt4NUF5b2tOZEU&usp=sharing.
For more information or to obtain artwork images, please contact the Invasive Species Program at invasives@wildlife.ca.gov.
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