Contact: Kelly Green | Research Communications | 405-744-5827 | kelly.green@okstate.edu
OSU’s Institute for Sustainable Environments presents awards
(Stillwater, OK April 7, 2009) – The Institute for Sustainable Environments at Oklahoma State University recognized students, faculty, staff and community members for their work promoting sustainability in Oklahoma during the seventh annual Environmental Awards Reception held March 26 in Stillwater. The ceremony was made possible through financial support from the Public Service Company of Oklahoma, which has sponsored the last six receptions.
“Awards provide recognition and serve as a vehicle to inspire others to achievement,” said Will Focht, director of the Institute. “Oklahoma and OSU have much to brag about concerning environmental achievement. We started our awards ceremony seven years ago to recognize these achievements.”
The City of Stillwater received a Green Award for Sustainability. The City of Stillwater has long supported environmental initiatives, especially those associated with responsible management of solid and hazardous wastes, Focht said. In addition, the City supports numerous recycling programs and works with partners throughout Stillwater, including OSU, to ensure a sustainable approach waste management.
The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts also received a Green Award for Sustainability. Through state and federal cost-share programs, OACD helps Oklahomans address soil erosion and non-point source pollution, improve wildlife habitats, control invasive species, and maintain the productivity of crop and range land in Oklahoma. The association and its member districts also work on programs to educate landowners on the importance of land stewardship and natural resource conservation.
Christine Moseley, an OSU alumna with a specialization in environmental education, received the Alumni Award for Outstanding Environmental Achievement. As an associate professor and coordinator of interdisciplinary studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Moseley has introduced environmental education experiences and courses systematically in UTSA’s undergraduate and graduate programs. Moseley has also served with several teacher accreditation boards as a voice for the inclusion of environmental coursework in curriculum reform.
Brian Carter received the Ted Mills Award for Outstanding Environmental Teaching. A professor of plant and soil sciences at OSU, Carter serves on both the graduate and undergraduate environmental science steering councils and mentors students from the freshman through Ph.D. levels. His graduate students serve in leadership roles at the Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, three state environmental departments, a dozen private environmental consulting firms, two universities, and two international natural resource conservation organizations.
John Veenstra received the Bud Burks Award for Outstanding Environmental Research. Veenstra is professor and head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the coordinator of the graduate program in environmental engineering at OSU. His research activities cover several areas of civil and environmental engineering. He is currently working on a study of a refinery wastewater treatment system. He also recently completed work with the chemical engineering department on a gas corona process for treating air emissions. Other research includes: modeling air emissions from a military wastewater treatment facility, investigating the hydraulics and sludge de-watering at a military wastewater treatment facility, assessing the impact of tropical deforestation on river chemical pollution, assessing the impact of net-pen aquaculture on lake water quality, and evaluating options for the clean-up of metal contaminated sites.
Sandra Rodriguez, a doctoral candidate in OSU’s environmental science graduate program, received the award for outstanding graduate student environmental research. In a collaborative project with the University of Puebla, Rodriguez investigated the role knowledge and deliberation play in the adoption of indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM) at a community forest in Puebla. Her research examined forest owner values and perceptions of the forest and their relation to the social, economic, and ecological aspects of SFM indicators.
Matt Albright received the award for outstanding staff environmental service. For the last seven years, Albright has worked as an environmental science graduate program advisor and recruiter, and his service in Tulsa has enabled the environmental science graduate program there to thrive. Albright also serves on the Mayor of Tulsa’s Green Team, a group of citizens helping to chart the environmental future of Tulsa and Northeast Oklahoma.
Jane Talkington received the award for outstanding student environmental service. Talkington, a Stillwater native who returned five years ago to pursue her Ph.D. in environmental science, has worked as a researcher and writer in the green building industry and for architecture/urban planning firms. She is an advocate of green building and ecological architecture as well as a supporter of the sustainability movement in Oklahoma. For several years, Talkington has hosted “The Green Talk,” an informal lunch gathering of people interested in interdisciplinary thinking. Last fall, she hosted a children’s art workshop through the public schools that generated 25 collage entries in the ECO-OSU art festival.
Jimmy Phillips received the James R. Esbenshade II Research Assistantship in Rural Sustainability. The $1,000 award will support Phillips in a soil-testing internship on a 3,000-acre plot of land in Lacey, OK. Phillips will evaluate the effects no-till farming practices on soil fertility. He will also evaluate the effects of runoff from nearby swine feeding operations. Phillips will work under the direction of Dr. Halin Zhang, the director of the soil testing lab at OSU.
Aaron Mittlestet, a master’s student in the environmental science program, received the Jimmie Pigg Environmental Policy Research Assistantship. The $1,000 award is sponsored by the Environmental Law section of the Oklahoma Bar Association and supports Mittlestet’s research on groundwater policies in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico. He will examine how groundwater allocations have influenced stream flow in the North Canadian River and its alluvial aquifer.
Chad Burden received the Public Service Company of Oklahoma Environmental Management Research Assistantship. Burden is a graduate of Tulsa’s Master Recyclers program and member of Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor’s Green Team. He has worked extensively with public schools on waste management and recycling education and programs. He will use the $1,000 award to formulate an outreach plan for the Maser Recyclers program.
Wes Jackson, president of The Land Institute, received the Norman N. Durham Lectureship Award. The award is given to a speaker who can attract and inspire students, staff and faculty to undertake environmentally responsible action in their own lives and careers. Jackson, a former professor of biology at Kansas Wesleyan, established the Environmental Studies program at California State University, Sacramento. He was named one of 18 "important Americans of the 20th century" by Life magazine and one of the “35 Who Made a Difference” by Smithsonian magazine.
For more information on the Institute for Sustainable Environments or these awards, visit http://environ.okstate.edu/.
