The 80-year-old has spent much of her life trying to protect the Otago Peninsula and was recognised for her efforts with the top prize at the Volunteer Awards in Dunedin on Saturday.
Ms Parker said she was a bit shocked to receive the award, as she had only been told she was receiving a certificate of appreciation.
That turned out to be a slight variation of the truth, as she had actually received the SBS Spirit of Volunteering award given to the overall winner.
She has been a part of many volunteer organisations and projects over the years, such as the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust and the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group.
She was even volunteering the day before the ceremony.
On Friday she was working with Seek Weeds and Terminate (Swat) to remove banana passionfruit weeds.
The plants looked pretty, but were actually a popular food for rats and possums.
One of her proudest volunteer achievements was helping establish a bird monitoring system through the peninsula in 2010, as it gave a them a way to measure their progress and truly see the impact their work had made.
A lot of people would mention they saw and heard more native birds, but the data gave a scientific and quantifiable way to track that.
Ms Parker said she had always enjoyed nature, and first became active in environmental volunteering in the 1980s when plans were announced to build an aluminium smeltery on the Peninsula.
The group Save The Otago Peninsula (Stop) was formed to try stop the build, but continued to oppose environmentally harmful projects in the area.
However, as the group developed they decided to actively change the peninsula for good, rather than just try to stop the bad from happening.
They started actively working to protect the environment, such as by planting native species.
The work she had been part of was all very satisfying and she was proud of it, Ms Parker said.
The Okahau Dune Project was awarded the Otago Community Trust Volunteer Programme of the Year, while the Otago Community Trust Volunteer of the Year award went to Juanita Willems for her work at Foster Hope Otago.
