Author: Keith Bamberger
The annual North Carolina AQ-IQ Contest for seventh grade combines S.T.E.A.M. education and project-based learning with student creativity to teach air pollution science to students across the state. The contest gives these students an opportunity to learn about air quality and think about solutions to air pollution. It puts students in charge of creating a project to educate others about an air quality problem.
The Best In North Carolina AQ-IQ Project is given in remembrance of Margie Meares. Margie, a former Division of Air Quality (DAQ) employee for the Asheville Regional Office, started the contest in 2005 as one of the programs of Clean Air Community Trust, an Asheville-based nonprofit dedicated to educating the people of Western North Carolina about what individuals could do to help make sure the air is clean.
There are few photos of the early years of the contest because they predated the iPhone and cellphone cameras. In 2005 and 2006, it was a poster contest, but students kept turning in projects that were not posters. They turned in board games and paintings, research projects with air quality data logbooks, and videos. The contest evolved and added those categories. In 2007, teachers from other counties wanted their students to participate, so we added Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties to Buncombe County.
In 2010, the Clean Air Community Trust asked Keith Bamberger of DAQ to take over the AQ-IQ Contest. By 2014, DAQ opened the contest to all the seventh-grade students in North Carolina and had the first statewide Air Expo Recognition Ceremony. The ceremony was one part of the 2015 Air & Waste Management Association Annual Conference.
In 2020, the global pandemic caused the contest to go virtual, and all the projects are now submitted as digital files and links. We added an online category for websites and added Minecraft worlds to the Games category. But through the changes, the quality of the projects only improved.
Each year, projects from all over the state are submitted in one of four categories: Artistic projects, such as paintings, poems, stories, and songs; Minecraft, Web-based, or Online projects like original Minecraft environments, interactive web pages, and online games; Poster projects that could include experiment reports or infographics; and Video projects of all sorts like music videos, newscasts, investigations and interviews, plays and stories!
In addition to project categories, students can also choose to focus their projects on a Special Topic which are selected by Air Quality partners at the beginning of the year. The Special Topics for 2024-2025 were Reducing Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5); Acid Deposition; and Electric Cars, Air Quality, and Climate.
Submitted projects are judged by air quality experts and environmental education volunteers, and are graded on the project’s bibliography, spelling and grammar, appearance, and creativeness!
Projects that receive the highest marks in the state are invited to a recognition ceremony that has historically been held at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer.
Here are a few of the 2025 projects that have won a statewide award:
- Artistic: Amber the Firefly
- Minecraft, Web-based or Online: Minecraft Adventure Video
- Poster: Reeling In Solutions
- Video: Air Pollution
Want to view projects from past years? Visit our contest website or our NC Air Awareness YouTube channel.
If you have any questions, contact Keith Bamberger at keith.bamberger@deq.nc.gov or 828-296-4500.
It’s Air Quality Awareness Week!
May 5-9 marks Air Quality Awareness Week 2025. DAQ and our partners this week are highlighting the many ways our air quality has improved in recent decades, while helping residents understand how they can
This blog post will be one in a series talking about air quality this week. Check out our earlier posts about wildfire smoke and asthma resources.