Frostburg, Md. (April 17, 2007) – The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory will honor community leader and Garrett College Professor Kevin Dodge with the Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award at a ceremony Thursday evening in Frostburg.

The award, to be presented by Appalachian Laboratory Director Robert H. Gardner, recognizes local citizens for their outstanding contributions to environmental education and will be presented to Dodge for his contributions to expanding the community’s understanding and appreciation of the natural world.

“Kevin’s contributions to environmental education have allowed hundreds of Western Maryland residents to better understand – and appreciate – the natural world around them,” said Gardner. “In addition to his work as a professor, Kevin’s enthusiasm for raising environmental awareness throughout his community is inspirational to everyone in the environmental education field.”

Dodge’s work over the past two decades has expanded his classroom to the outside world, with a renewed emphasis on experiences built upon field trips to parts of the mid-Atlantic/Central Appalachian region. While his past research focused on habitat use by wood warblers on Isle Royale National Park and the impact of gypsy moth-induced habitat change on forest birds in eastern West Virginia, Kevin and his students have studied the breeding biology, habitat use, and fall migration of northern saw-whet owls since 1991.

In the community, Kevin is actively involved in natural resources issues in Garrett County and the surrounding area. He is a member of the Savage River State Forest Citizens’ Advisory Board, the Youghiogheny River Watershed Association, and the Allegheny Highlands Conservancy. He is a frequent local consultant to The Nature Conservancy and regularly leads numerous hikes and conducts campfire programs for state parks and forests.

The award provides the recipient with $2,000 to support further environmental education activities. An endowed fund to support the Johnson Award has been established at the University System of Maryland Foundation and is administered by the Appalachian Laboratory. Contributors to the fund include Allegheny Power, NewPage Corporation, Mettiki Coal Corporation and numerous private citizens and other organizations.

Past recipients of the Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award include: former Times-News columnist Ken Hodgdon (1991); Frostburg State University professor Emeritus Don Emerson (1991); retired teacher Nan Livingston (1992); retired teacher Charles Strauss Sr. (1993); former Appalachian Laboratory Director Kent Fuller (1996); Department of Natural Resources project manager Bernard Zlomek (2001); Hickory Environmental Education Center coordinator Joseph Winters (2002); former Frostburg State University Biology Department Head Melvin Brown (2003); Beall High School Environmental Educator Kenneth Baxter (2004); Allegany High School Ecology Club mentor Alan Hammond (2005); and, Route 40 Elementary School Principal Patrick Delaney (2006). Information about past recipients is online at http://www.al.umces.edu/johnsonaward/richardjohnson.htm.

Founded in 1961, the Appalachian Laboratory is a center for research on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, including how these ecosystems function within the larger context of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how human activity may influence these ecosystems and effect ecosystem health and sustainability on local, regional and global scales. Located in the mountains of western Maryland, the Appalachian Laboratory is one of three laboratories of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

CONTACT:
Chris Conner
410-268-0675