Byron joins Beaver Watershed Alliance
Carrie Byron joined the Beaver Watershed Alliance team in January as the outreach coordinator. She has conducted wildlife research in Africa, Yellowstone National Park, the Boundary Water, and Ontario. For 13 years, she was the general manager of Yellowstone Wilderness Outfitters, guiding interpretive ecology tours in the remote Yellowstone backcountry on horseback. She has spent winters on her Ozark farm for the past decade, where she raises bison and trains horses.
Corscadden joins SDIA
Bob Corscadden of Fayetteville has joined the Sheep Dog Impact Assistance national office staff in Rogers as the director of chapter/team development, reporting to Founder and President Sgt. Major Lance Nutt.
Corscadden brings 30 years of business success at Fortune 500 companies, including Kellogg's, Tyson Foods, Nabisco and Beecham Products. He also had his own strategy/advertising agency, giving him a diverse background with deep experience in sales, marketing, research and development, strategic planning, leadership/management and public relations. This experience will provide the expertise needed as he and current chapter/team coordinator Andy Seal work in tandem to continue efforts to better support SDIA teams and chapters, including guiding teams in their formation and growth, and assisting existing chapters and teams in strategic and tactical planning. In addition, Corscadden will work to set a streamlined, bold course for SDIA's continued expansion, growth and awareness.
Freeman Rocky Mountain Farm
Freeman Rocky Mountain Farm, established in 1908, Washington County, was inducted into the Arkansas Century Farm Program by Governor Asa Hutchinson and Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward during a ceremony at the State Capitol on Dec. 19.
The Arkansas Century Farm Program recognizes Arkansas farms of 10 acres or more owned by the same family for at least 100 years.
The Arkansas Agriculture Department began the Century Farm program in 2012 as a way to highlight the contributions of these families to the agriculture industry as well as their overall contributions to our state. Agriculture is Arkansas's largest industry, contributing more than $20 billion to the state's economy annually and providing one in every six jobs in the state. Arkansas consistently ranks in the top 25 nationally in the production of 23 agricultural commodities.
Applications for the 2019 Century Farm Inductees will open in February. For questions about the Arkansas Century Farm program, contact Mary Elizabeth Lea at [email protected].
Shaw graduates from leadership training
Institute for Organization Management, the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, announced that J.R. Shaw, IOM, executive vice president of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, has graduated from the program and received the recognition of IOM. Awarded to all graduates of the Institute program, the IOM Graduate Recognition signifies the individual's completion of 96 hours of course instruction in nonprofit management. In addition, participants can earn credit hours toward the Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) or Certified Association Executive (CAE) certifications.
Environmental journalist awarded Fellowship
Jeremy Hance has hiked beneath the canopy of the Amazon, paddled in the Okavango Delta and chased orangutans in Borneo. He has traveled the world in search of rare species and pristine places, routinely putting himself in situations that would spike anyone's anxiety, despite being diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder OCD at the age of 26.
Hance, a freelance environmental and science journalist, is the recipient of the 2018 From Mental Illness to Wellness Fellowship at the Writers' Colony.
While at the Writers' Colony, he will be working on a memoir-nature project, "Not Built For Travel," showcasing the sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant, but always candid stories of what it's like to be a serious environmental journalist with mental illness. It also explores our relationship to the wild, including a look at new research on why nature may be the answer to our mental health crisis.
He currently writes a column for Mongabay, known globally for its reporting and analysis on the environment, called "Saving Life on Earth: Words on the Wild." Prior to this, he wrote a blog in the Guardian called "Radical Conservation." As a senior staff writer and editor for Mongabay for six years, he wrote more than 3,000 articles for the website and still writes regularly for them as a senior correspondent. He has written two series recently on one of his favorite species, the Sumatran rhino. Hance's articles have also appeared in HuffPost, The Sydney Morning Herald, Ensia, Yale E360 and Alert: Conservation among other outlets. Hance lives in St. Paul, Minn.
UAFS named Tree Campus USA
The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith has earned the distinction of being a 2018 Tree Campus USA, as awarded by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
"Tree Campuses and their students set examples for not only their student bodies but the surrounding communities showcasing how trees create a healthier environment," said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. "Because of UAFS' participation, its air will be purer, water cleaner, and students and faculty will be surrounded by the shade and beauty the trees provide."
The Tree Campus USA program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. UAFS achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA's five standards: maintaining a tree advisory committee, developing a campus tree-care plan, dedicating annual expenditures for its campus tree program, hosting an Arbor Day observance and offering student service-learning projects.
NAN Our Town on 02/21/2019