Michigan Environmental Education

Michigan Alliance for Environmental & Outreach Education
2008 AWARDS

Each year, MAEOE takes the time to acknowledge and celebrate individuals who have made outstanding achievements in environmental or outdoor education within Michigan. We believe in nurturing excellence. Every year, the awards are presented at our Annual Conference. Keep reading to learn more about the individual awards, as well as how you can nominate some one for an award!

Would you like to nominate someone for an award? Nominations are open
for the 2010 MAEOE Awards - download the form here. Nominations must be received by September 10, 2010.

APPRECIATION Certificate

Awarded to a maximum of TEN individuals who:
- has taken exemplary steps to initiate successful environmental or outdoor education programs where they live.
- enthusiastically promotes the goals of outdoor and environmental education.

2008 Recipient: Jim Luoma, Principal, Houghton Middle School

I am nominating Jim Luoma for an Appreciation Certificate as he has designed and implemented numerous successful environmental education programs in his local school and been an enthusiastic promoter of the goals of environmental education throughout his 28-year tenure with the Houghton-Portage Township School District (since August 1, 1980). Jim taught Earth Science for the first 23 years, and has been the Houghton Middle School principal since 2003.

Throughout his career, Jim has actively sought to engage his students in learning about the environment and their community through many innovative programs including:

Copper Snow Day (teaches students to take a stand and debate),

Huron Creek stream monitoring program and annual litter clean-up 1997-2003

school tree planting to create wildlife habitat using native species,

taking the 8th grade class (100 students) to Duluth annually to visit the Great Lakes Aquarium,

8th grade Keweenaw Day where students take field trips to visit unique places in their community,

8th grade Science Exploration at Michigan Tech, where students took a scientific excursion aboard a research vessel, dissect a trout stomach to investigate the Great Lakes food chain, visit the rhizotron underground soils lab, and visit the Seaman Mineral Museum.

Jim served on the Advisory Board of the Regional Groundwater Education in Michigan Center at Michigan Tech from 1991-1998, guiding an Upper Peninsula-wide effort to raise awareness about groundwater quality and quantity and its important role in providing 50% of the state’s drinking water.

Jim regularly brings thoughtful presenters to his school to challenge, motivate, and excite his students in learning about their environment, both human and natural. Over the years, Jim has hosted Ann Bailey, a singer/songwriter about groundwater; the International Wildlife Film Festival; Peter Annin author of Great Lakes Water Wars, David Gallo, marine scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; Dave Dempsey author of Great Lakes on the Brink; John Vucetich research scientist on the Wolves & Moose of Isle Royale.

Most recently, Jim has assumed leadership of the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative (LSSI) Advisory Board at the invitation of the Western U.P Center for Science, Mathematics & Environmental Education. The LSSI Advisory Board guides implementation of this project to engage 9 school districts in Houghton and Baraga counties in community-based education, working in partnership with community organizations and units of government to address a need in the Lake Superior watershed. Jim has promoted the LSSI at local meetings of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance comprised of more than 200 area businesses, and also with local units of government including the City of Houghton and Portage Township.

Jim is a fantastic supporter of environmental education with the teachers and students in his school and regularly encourages them to engage their students in real world learning opportunities related to environmental science and stewardship. He is a role model for other educators in the community, in the U.P. and statewide.

VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD

Awarded to a maximum of FIVE individuals who:
-volunteer their time and skills for more than one year to a Michigan school, college, outdoor education center, nature center, zoo, etc.
-work toward the goals of environmental and outdoor education with enthusiasm.

2008 Recipient: Dr. Marty Auer, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering

I am nominating Dr. Marty Auer for a Volunteer Service Award as he has voluntarily initiated and led numerous environmental education activities to engage elementary, middle, and high school students in learning about their environment and the Great Lakes over the past ten years.

Marty participated as a scientist on the 8-member committee that developed the Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS) Water Quality Unit from 2003-2005. During that time, Marty developed and implemented the idea of creating 18 interactive web modules on Energy Resources, Ecosystems & Biodiversity, and Water Quality. He recruited a web designer, 18 graduate students, and 9 faculty to carry out this work and oversaw their efforts over a one-year period. All of Marty’s time was donated (only the web designer was paid). The modules can now be viewed at: http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec_index.htm .

Dr. Marty Auer has collaborated in planning and implementing two 10-day teacher institutes aboard the EPA’s R/V Lake Guardian in 2004 and 2006, so that he could impart his passion for the Great Lakes to teachers, and that they in turn could share with their students. He planned and taught these courses, and assisted in obtaining funding. He was up late and night and available early the next morning to guide the teachers’ learning. He was tireless in sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm.

For the past five years, Dr. Marty Auer has led scientific excursions aboard Michigan Tech’s research vessel Agassiz for
K-12 teachers, students, and the community. He is an inspiring educator, who mesmerizes his audiences with his passion for learning about the Great Lakes. He has led excursions for more than 500 students in the last two years. He designed a fish gut analysis lab where he collects fish stomachs from a local fishing business that he brings to the lab for K-12 students to dissect in order to “discover how to make a lake trout.” This past summer, he led SIX one-hour tours on a Sunday (July 12) for 100+ community members to introduce them to “how scientists assess the health of the Great Lakes.” He is currently assisting in preparing a handbook to assist teachers in preparing their classes for a scientific excursion on Lake Superior and the Portage Waterway.

Marty does all of this without requiring compensation. He has had a tremendous impact on developing a better understanding of the Great Lakes amongst teachers, students, and the community, and in inspiriting our next generation of environmental scientists.

RECOGNITION Award

Awarded to TWO individuals each year who:
-have made significant contributions to the fields of environmental and outdoor education in a specialized area (i.e., journalism, photography, curriculum development, interpretation, the arts, etc.)

2008 Recipient: Linda Rulison, Social Studies teacher, Hancock Middle School

I am nominating Linda Rulison for her significant contributions to the field of environmental education through her involvement in curriculum development and other classroom supplemental materials. Linda has taught in the Hancock School District for more than 30 years. During that time, she has engaged her students in learning about their local community, coordinating service learning projects, hosting parents’ nights, and in the past ten years, has co-authored several publications that are now having state and national impact:

Co-authored, Looks Count! Community Planning, Natural Resource Protection, and the Visual Landscape, an interdisciplinary Middle School Unit for Social Studies, Language Arts, Math, Science and Art (published in 2002). Linda has presented on this curriculum at the annual conferences for the North American Association for Environmental Education, the National Science Teachers Association, and the Michigan Council of Social Studies.
Co-authored, Design Guidelines – To Enhance Community Appearance and Protect Natural Resources, a guide book for citizens, decision makers, and youth (published in 2004). 5,000 copies have been distributed to 44 states, four provinces, and four countries.
Served on the committee that developed the MEECS (Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support,) Energy Resources curriculum for middle school science and social studies teachers (published in 2006). To date, one thousand copies have been distributed throughout Michigan.
Authored a journal article, Looks Count for the Community, published in the Fall 2007 issue of the Green Teacher that describes her experience teaching the Looks Count unit to her students.

Other environmental education/outreach endeavors that Linda has engaged in are taking her middle school students to the Lake Superior Youth Symposium for the past several years, co-founding the Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK) to guide land use decision-making in the Keweenaw, and most recently, is implementing the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative through the creation of a community service learning class.

JULIAN SMITH AWARD

Awarded to an individual who:
-exemplifies the best in the field of outdoor education (i.e., service, research, teaching administration).
-has made outstanding contributions to outdoor education.
-demonstrates a lifetime of devoted service.
-has spent at least 5 years working in Michigan.

2008 Recipient: Dr. Jean Kinnear, Northern Michigan University

Dr. Jean Kinnear has been a leader in the fields of outdoor education and interpretation throughout her outstanding career as a professor at Northern Michigan University. In addition to providing hands-on educational experiences for her students and mentoring them even beyond their college careers, Jean has forged connections between the University, students and professional environmental educators & interpreters working in a wide variety of settings across the country. These professional connections not only help students, but they also help working professionals keep connected with the latest theories and with the fresh energy of aspiring educators.

Jean has also been a leader in her profession through her involvement with National Association for Interpretation, where she has served in a variety of ways, including as secretary for Region 4 and as an organizer for NAI’s national workshop.

Jean has supported interpretation and environmental education in her own backyard through her leadership and involvement in the Hiawatha Interpretive Association, a natural history association that supports environmental education and interpretation on the Hiawatha National Forest, including Clear Lake Education Center. The organization has made critical positive impacts on the Forest’s ability to provide services and staff in those areas, including such key environmental education efforts as including Grand Island Youth Archaeology Workshops, Summer Culture Tour programming and the Hiawatha Artist in Residence Program, which connects people to the Forest through art programming.

Ask any of her students and they will tell you that Jean not only demands the best of her students, but she leads by example: she exemplifies the best in the field of outdoor education and has spent her career in service of the field. MAEOE would do well to recognize her for her outstanding contributions to the field.

WILLIAM B. STAPP AWARD

Awarded to an individual who:
-has made outstanding contributions to environmental education.
-exemplifies the best in the field of EE (i.e., service, research, teaching, administration).
-demonstrates a lifestyle of devoted service.
-has spent at least 5 years working in Michigan.

2008 Recipient: Dr. Donald Snitgen, retired Northern Michigan professor

Dr. Donald Snitgen, retired professor from Northern Michigan University has a lifetime of outstanding contributions to environmental and outdoor education in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Many consider Don the first “grandfather” of environmental education in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, similar to Bill Stapp’s efforts in the Lower Peninsula.

In 1979, when Don was a biology department professor at NMU, he began to take steps to create the first environmental education center for the U.P. Don has a superb grasp of environmental and outdoor education methodology. He also is a great role model to many that the final step in good environmental education is citizen action! Below are some additional details about Don’s outstanding contributions in Environmental and Outdoor Education.
1960s High School Biology Teacher in Lansing, MI. - Took his high school
biology classes on field trips emphasizing environmental principles. Example: Barber
Woodlot: people were trying to save the huge hardwoods and he wanted his
students why it was important to save them. Took overnight trips with
students belonging to his Biology Club.

Developed a self-guided nature trail in Longyear Forest, belonging to
Northern Michigan University, where he now was a professor of Biology. He
taught EE teaching methods, and these students took hundreds of local school
children on field trips there and other natural environments nearby.

1970”s
Organized the “Marquette Committee for Clean Water” with others.
Worked for the cleanup of milk wastes that were being dumped into a
Marquette area creek by a local dairy. The dairy subsequently created a
lagoon for the wastes.

Documented pollution in Whetstone Creek, Marquette. Construction pollution documented on film. Subsequently cleaned up by his persistence.

Documented on film many other areas of pollution all over the U.P. and gave presentations to groups who could help clean them up.

Worked with the League of Women Voters on the “Bottle Bill” in Michigan, which was passed and now requires a 10 cent refund for soft drink bottles and cans.

Formed the “Citizens to Save the Superior Shoreline” when it was threatened with the building a power plant near Little Presque Isle in Marquette. This group joined the Save Lake Superior Association which was working on the taconite tailings issue from Reserve Mining in Duluth, MN.

Developed the first auto-tutorial biology course at NMU. This was a self-paced, self-instructed course for non-biology majors. Course objectives were clearly written, along with study and audiovisual aids. A graduate assistant was always available to answer questions and assist students. Was invited to present this innovative course at major conferences.

Took college students on ecology field trips and conferences to Pigeon Key Florida, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Estes Park, Colorado.

Late 1970’s-1980
Created the Regional Environmental Education Center of the Upper Peninsula ( the first ever environmental center in the Upper Peninsula! ) with Dr. Jim Mansfield.
Sought funds from the 1969 Environmental Education Act, which was passed by Congress, but was never fully funded. Very successful with teachers but was never funded by the University. Had a director, David Kronk, funded by CETA. A grad assistant who was the Environmental Education Coordinator for Marquette Alger Intermediate School District brought 3,000 children to the Center year round for day use and overnight environmental education programming.

Don was an active member of the Michigan Association for Environmental Education for a decade. He brought many a busload of teachers and college students’ downstate for the annual conferences.

Developed an environmental education program at Bay Cliff Health Camp
north of Marquette for teachers to use with their 7th graders. His college
methods students interned for two weeks teaching these environmental
programs to the children.

1982-1992
Developed and presented summer courses for teachers. Co-taught with Dr. Jim
Wahla. Topics were: “Lakes, Ponds, and Streams”, Aquatic Insects, Aquatic
Algae,, Ferns and Bryophytes, the Forest, and Geology.

Offered many summer conferences with an ecological focus for teachers. Taught teachers how to integrate these topics into their curricula.

Started a community organic garden on the NMU campus.

Throughout his career, Don joined and has been an active member of The Sierra Club, the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, the Northwoods Wilderness Recovery, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, and more recently, Save the Wild U.P.

2003
Don fought against the Michigan Department of Natural Resources who wanted to put a new boat launch on Deer Lake, Alger Co., MI. Don wanted to preserve the mature forest there, a small wetland and to ultimately protect the lake from invasive species of plants and animals that could be brought in by motor boats. He lost this fight.

2000- present
Don is still active in fighting for environmental causes!