Mon, Oct 31st, 2011
Larry Coon, Hocking College instructor and Dean of the College of Natural Resources, was awarded the 2011 Natural Resources Conservation Educator of the Year Award on October 20, 2011. The Athens Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) presented the award at their 65th Annual Meeting and Banquet.
“Born and raised here, he has been a life-long champion for natural resources conservation and education. You can hardly be involved in natural resources locally and not at least know his name,” Teresa Caldwell, Conservation Educator of the Athens SWCD, said about Coon.
Coon first joined Hocking College in 1975 as an instructor in Environmental Health and taught for seven years. After a leave of absence from the school, he returned in 1988 to teach. Coon earned a master’s degree in Higher Education and continued to teach for 25 years. He has also served as the Dean of the School of Natural Resources for the last six years.
Besides instructing, Coon has overseen the development of trails, classes and the infrastructure of the school, both on the main Hocking College campus and at Lake Snowden. In 2008, he was successful in the push to reopen Lake Snowden. He developed a budget and made it a part of the experience for Hocking students, as well as local youth through partnerships with Athens SWCD and Ohio Future Farmers of America. Under his guidance, the natural resources program has grown and Lake Snowden has been rejuvenated.
“Born and raised here, he has been a life-long champion for natural resources conservation and education. You can hardly be involved in natural resources locally and not at least know his name,” Teresa Caldwell, Conservation Educator of the Athens SWCD, said about Coon.
Coon first joined Hocking College in 1975 as an instructor in Environmental Health and taught for seven years. After a leave of absence from the school, he returned in 1988 to teach. Coon earned a master’s degree in Higher Education and continued to teach for 25 years. He has also served as the Dean of the School of Natural Resources for the last six years.
Besides instructing, Coon has overseen the development of trails, classes and the infrastructure of the school, both on the main Hocking College campus and at Lake Snowden. In 2008, he was successful in the push to reopen Lake Snowden. He developed a budget and made it a part of the experience for Hocking students, as well as local youth through partnerships with Athens SWCD and Ohio Future Farmers of America. Under his guidance, the natural resources program has grown and Lake Snowden has been rejuvenated.
