State Natural Resource Association Recognizes Penn State Extension Awardees

The Pennsylvania state chapter of the  Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP) honored five Penn State Extension educators at the annual Joint Council of Extension Professionals conference in November.

Paul McFarland received the Natural Resource Education Champion Award. This award is granted to an individual or an organization for their support of and enthusiasm for natural resources education in Pennsylvania. Paul is a 4-H Education Program Specialist in Environmental Science, Shooting Sports, and Camping. The work he has conducted in those programs was recognized for its significant impact on natural resource education, particularly with youth.

The Early Career Achievement Award for Natural Resources Extension Professional Service was granted to Genevieve Christ.  This award recognizes the achievements of a PA-ANREP member who exhibits outstanding leadership and excellence in planning, designing, delivering, and evaluating Extension natural resources programs.  Genny works in the Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training (CACAT) where her leadership in organizing the annual Agricultural Conservation Conference and other trainings was a major factor in receiving this award.

Sanford "Sandy" Smith was this year's Jim Finley Extension Spirit Award recipient. The Jim Finley Award was inaugurated to honor a PA-ANREP member who embraces the ideals and Extension spirit of Jim Finley, who was both friend and colleague to many PA-ANREP members before he died in 2021. Sandy was recognized as having high levels of enthusiasm, energy, broad-mindedness, and a "pay-it-forward" philosophy that are the criteria for this award. 

The Innovative Natural Resources Programming Award is given at multiple levels. This year, the Gold level award was given to Cathryn Pugh for her Plants in the Park program that provides accessible outdoor programming for the Pennsylvania public to learn basic botanical terms and how to identify some plant species that they encounter while in various State Parks in Pennsylvania. The Silver level award was granted to Calvin Norman for his Frontiers in Forest Health Webinar Series that educates foresters and forested landowners on a series of topics of interest to them. 

National ANREP awards will be distributed at the upcoming bi-annual conference. The nomination period for those awards is expected to open in early 2026.