GLLA inducted into Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame

Jordan Burroughs and Ritchie Harrison, co-directors of the Great Lakes Leadership Academy (GLLA), shared that GLLA will be inducted into the Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame on May 9 at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids.

The Michigan Environmental Hall of Fame was established in 2010 by the Muskegon Environmental Research & Education Society. They are recognizing GLLA under the category of colleges and schools that are longtime supporters of the environment.

The mission of the GLLA is to promote positive change, economic vitality, and resource conservation and enhance the quality of life in Michigan by encouraging leadership for the common good. You may recall that GLLA was formed in 2007 and was recently moved into the Michigan State University Extension Greening Michigan Institute portfolio under the leadership of Jordan and Ritchie.

Congratulations to all the people involved in past and current GLLA facilitation and leadership efforts.

Congratulations to our 2017 Distinguished Academic Staff Award winners

Tuesday we celebrated our Distinguished Academic Staff (DSA) Award winners, Jordan Burroughs and Terry McLean. The DSA honors the outstanding achievements of professionals who serve Michigan State University (MSU) in advising, curriculum development, outreach, extension, research and teaching. Up to four DSA awards are given annually, and these awards provide university wide recognition and reward to individuals with outstanding careers that demonstrate long-term excellence.

Jordan Burroughs and her family. Photo credit: MSU Extension Communications Team.

Jordan, an outreach specialist in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, works closely with the wildlife community of interest in Michigan and has created innovative and effective education and stakeholder support programs. She is also the nation’s first Boone and Crockett Club Extension specialist and is known for the Gourmet Gone Wild and Catch and Cook programs, which she helped to develop and expand.

Jeff Dwyer, Terry McLean and her family. Photo credit: MSU Extension Communications Team.

Terry is a community food systems educator based in MSU Extension District 9. During the Flint water emergency, Terry mobilized MSU resources to respond to community needs through collaborating with partners and colleagues. She is also a founding member of edible flint, a community gardening and urban ag network that helps revitalize communities and improve access to healthy food and revitalization. Lastly, Terry has provided leadership and training opportunities for the Genesee Master Gardener Volunteer Program for 13 years.

Read more about Jordan and Terry, as well as the other award winners, in MSU’s 2017 Distinguished Academic Staff Awards press release. Congratulations again to Jordan and Terry, and thank you for your service.

4-H GLNR campers contribute to science through coastal inventory of threatened plant

At 4-H Great Lakes & Natural Resources Camp, teens learn about Michigan’s natural resources through amazing hands-on experiences. This year, that included inventorying and mapping federally and state-threatened Pitcher’s thistle plant in three coastal Lake Huron areas within Presque Isle County. The campers inventoried almost 1,700 plants previously known to be in the region but never surveyed. The work was not only a learning experience for the campers but also a scientific contribution. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Michigan Natural Features Inventory (a program of MSUE) are now utilizing campers’ GPS points of these plant populations to monitor this particular plant species near northern Lake Huron. Find the full story and photos at http://4h.msue.msu.edu/4h/today/article/2011_4_h_great_lakes_and_natural_resources_campers_make_important_discovery.

4-H Great Lakes & Natural Resources Camp, a Michigan State University pre-college program, was one of ten programs selected nationwide to be part of an in-depth case study of high-quality 4-H science programs. The camp also received the National 4-H and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Natural Resources Conservation Education Award in 2009 and was recognized as a National 4-H Program of Distinction in 2008. Find out more about the camp at http://4h.msue.msu.edu/4h/glnrc.

Brandon Schroeder, MSU Sea Grant Extension educator; Jordan Burroughs, outreach specialist in the MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; and Judy Ratkos, senior program leader in MSU Extension’s Children and Youth Institute; provide leadership for the camp.