Jerry S. Dixon Award for Excellence in Environmental Education

The Dixon Award acknowledges and rewards innovative educators who integrate stewardship of Alaska's vast and precious natural resources into their instructive efforts. Teachers of all disciplines may be nominated, including experiential and outdoor educators. Candidates for this award must demonstrate a long history of service with their students and outstanding, innovative contributions to the pursuit of conservation education. The award is accompanied by a cash gift to the individual. The award was established with the support of Jerry Dixon, a McAuliffe Fellow and retired teacher of the gifted in Seward, Alaska.

2008 Award Recipient

Marilyn Sigman of Homer, Alaska

Marilyn Sigman is the Executive Director of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS) in Homer. She led CACS from serving 4000 people at two educational sites in 1998 to serving more than 11,000 people at four sites and to a substantial increase in the annual budget. She expanded the staff from six to thirteen while developing and sustaining high-quality and diverse place-based environmental education programs and extending the organization's outreach to other Alaska communities and beyond through web-based instruction. Tens of thousands of Alaskan school children and visitors to Homer have participated in CACS trips, natural history hikes and tours, and programs. She has partnered with other organizations in Homer to sponsor the annual Shorebird Festival and the Kachemak Bay Coastweeks celebration, and she’s also taken a lead role in organizing two Kachemak Bay Science conferences and an Alaska Coastal Stewardship Conference. Prior to her work with CACS, she worked with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as the Southeast Alaska regional nongame coordinator and the statewide coordinator of the Alaska Wildlife Week program, where she was involved in the development and distribution of annual multimedia wildlife education units to every school in the state and in teacher training workshops. She has been a founder of several organizations, including the Alaska Natural Resources and Outdoor Education Association, the Southeast Alaska Coalition for Outdoor Education, the Southeast Ecotourism Alliance, the Kachemak Bay Ecotourism Network, and the Kachemak Bay Environmental Alliance, and served as a board member and president of the Alaska Natural History Association.

2007 Award Recipient

Dr. Duane Gill of Mississippi State University

Dr. Gill has served in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES) component of the SSRC since 1988. He has directed several research projects related to environmental issues in Mississippi, including water quality and agriculture in the Mississippi Delta, management of fishery resources, hazardous waste disposal, lignite coal development, and natural hazards. He was also part of a research team that has been investigating the human impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Alaska through a series of longitudinal studies. He is currently co-directing a five-year MAFES project on community sustainability and development. Dr. Gill is a member of numerous professional organizations and has served as associate editor of Sociological Spectrum. Dr. Gill was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Bahrain for the 1998-99 academic year. He was recently appointed to the Minerals Management Service Outer Continental Shelf Scientific Committee and the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council Socioeconomic Panel.

2007 Award Recipient

Dr. Duane Gill of Mississippi State University

2006 Award Recipient

Fritz Kraus

A 25 year veteran of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Kraus has helped thousands of children and young adults learn about the life-cycle and biology of Alaska fisheries and stream ecology. More commonly known as the “Fish Man”, Kraus is responsible for the award winning curriculum “Salmonids in the Classroom;” the Mobile Aquatic Education Classroom, also known as the Fish Van; annual hands-on activities for local school children including fall “egg takes” at Campbell Creek, fish releases in the spring at Taku-Campbell Lake, winter ice fishing in Jewell Lake; and for generally helping to educate Southcentral Alaskan youth about our salmon and waterways. Kraus touches the lives of approximately 7,000 children each year through his work with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. We cannot think of a better reason to give this award to Kraus.

2005 Award Recipient

Catherine “Bucky” Dennerlein

Through her work at Audubon Alaska, Bucky has worked with thousands of educators and students. Bucky initiated Audubon’s Bird Academy, a program designed to promote awareness and appreciation of birds, their ecological role in the natural world, and ways in which each of us can foster their conservation. Bird Academy programs are currently offered in schools across the state, and also with Campfire, Boys & Girls Clubs, Campbell Creek Science Center, and a variety of other organizations and agencies.

2004 Award Recipient

Robin Dublin

Robin Dublin is deeply committed to fostering a love of the outdoors through experiential education. Through her work at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Robin has worked with thousands of educators and students. Because of Robin’s tireless efforts, what began as a one-person program at ADF&G has now become a comprehensive education program featuring Project Wild, the Alaska Wildlife Curriculum, adult education, and pre-school programs managed by a statewide staff. Her efforts have made is possible for formal and non-formal educators, scout leaders, community members, and home-schooling parents to use environmental education in their education efforts. She is a statewide spokesperson championing “Environmental Education without Advocacy.”

Robin has served on the boards of the Alaska Natural Resources and Outdoor Education Association and the Anchorage Committee for Resource Education. She serves as the co-chair of ADF&G’s Division of Wildlife Conservation Strategic Planning Education Group. Robin’s efforts earned her the National Project Wild Coordinator of the Year Award in 1999. Whether teaching a graduate level university course or leading a group of kindergarteners on a natural history hike, Robin’s inclusive approach helps bring understanding and appreciation of conservation values to all Alaskans.