Awards:

The Sandy Cochran Award for Excellence in Natural Resources Education

The purpose of this award is to recognize an individual each year who has done an outstanding job in educating youth and/or adults about the management, care and conservation of our Commonwealth’s natural resources, with emphasis on the forest resources.  It is not intended solely as an award for teachers.  This award can be given to a variety of individuals such as Bureau of Forestry employees, Conservation District people, Cooperative Extension agents and specialists, teachers, private and industrial foresters and individuals. 

The award will consist of a red oak plaque worth about $100.  On the back of the plaque will be a brief biography of Sandy Cochran and a list of those organizations that may have donated funds to make this award possible.

The review and selection committee for the award will be the Education Committee of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association or a subcommittee designated by the Education Committee.  The Director of Penn State’s school of Forest Resources will present the award at the PFA annual meeting.

Guidelines for Nominations

1. Name, address, phone number and affiliation of nominee.

2. Name, address, phone number and affiliation of nominator. 

3. A complete description of the educational activities for which the individual is being nominated, including: audience, number of individuals affected, how much the individuals were affected (changed behavior or presented new or explained existing concepts), the approaches used in the educational project (were the approaches new and/or innovative), how objectives of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association were furthered, location of the project, if the activities were local, regional or statewide in scope and an actual description of the program.  If available, a copy of the program’s agenda would be helpful but not mandatory.  The nomination would also include information on whether the activity is part of an ongoing educational program or a one-time activity. 

4. Three letters of support from individuals who have knowledge of the nominee’s qualifications and of the program for which the individual is being nominated.  Each letter of support will include a statement of why the nominee should receive the award and how the individual writing the letter gained the knowledge of the nominee’s program (1.e. attended the program, assisted with program, or assisted with planning, etc.)  Letters of support should also include the author’s name, address and phone number. 

5. Nominations and all supporting material must be received by Jim Stiehler, PA Bureau of Forestry, Penn Nursery and Wood Shop, 137 Penn Nursery Road, Spring Mills, PA 16875, 814-364-5157, no later than May 30, 2010.

Review of Nominations

The Review committee will review each nomination and should look for specifics such as: how the educational program supported the objectives of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, promoted forest stewardship, enlightened those in attendance at the program of the importance of Pennsylvania’s forest to the commonwealth, and encourage those attending the program to take an active role in the conservation of the state’s forest resource.  Preference will be given to individuals who have an ongoing program in natural resources education.  

 

All board members can be reached through the The Pennsylvania Forestry Association office at PO Box 1278, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055, Tel: (800) 835-8065; E-mail: thepfa@verizon.net.

Send mail to jls227@psu.edu with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: February 2, 2012