Astronaut to receive GEA’s highest honor

Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden to be honored for Lifetime Achievement

Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) will receive GLOBAL ECO ADVENTURES’ (GEA) LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Award at GEA’s Eco Ball on the evening of April 22, Earth Day, in Columbia.

The former administrator (director) of NASA, a Marine Corps aviator (100-plus combat missions during the Vietnam War), test pilot, astronaut, and space shuttle commander; Bolden will join GEA founder Maj. Gen. Tom Mullikin, PhD, and Mullikin’s son GEA Pres. Thomas Mullikin Jr. among other dignitaries at the annual event.

“This award recognizes a lifetime of work and exceptional achievement in the various interrelated fields of environmental awareness – a love of the natural world – and a commitment to exploring and protecting the same,” said Dr. Mullikin. “General Bolden’s life is quite literally a stellar reflection of all.”

Additional awards will be presented during an awards ceremony immediately following the dinner including GEA’s Educator of the Year, GEA Environmental Champion Award, GEA Legislator of the Year Award, and several IRONMAN awards.

The 2024 Eco Ball will kick off the monthlong statewide SC7 Expedition from the mountains to the sea. Please see – https://www.southcarolina7.com/

The Eco Ball – including reception, dinner, speakers, and awards ceremony – will be held April 22, Earth Day, 6:30 p.m. at Junction 800 on Gervais Street in Columbia’s historic Vista district. For more information about the Eco Ball or for sponsorship opportunities, please contact Desiree Watson at [email protected] or phone (803) 348-5416.

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, GEA was established “to create awareness of environmental sustainability through education of protected areas that are considered natural phenomena with exceptional aesthetic importance and fragile ecosystems for future generations.”

– For more information about GEA, visit http://globalecoadventures.org.