Marian Langan, director of Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center near Denton, is the recipient of a new national fellowship designed to advance the work of individuals with outstanding
the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, November 30, 2008 6:00 pm
Marian Langan, director of Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center near Denton, is the recipient of a new national fellowship designed to advance the work of individuals with outstanding potential to help shape a brighter environmental future.
Langan is one of 40 people selected nationwide for the TogetherGreen Conservation Leadership Program, part of a new conservation initiative of the National Audubon Society with support from Toyota.
Fellows receive specialized training in conservation planning and execution, the chance to work and share best practices with gifted conservation professionals, and assistance with project outreach and evaluation.
Each fellow will also receive $10,000 toward a community-focused project to engage local residents in conserving land, water and energy, and contributing to greater environmental health.
For her fellowship, Langan will focus on building relationships with leaders in the faith community near the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center.
Faith-based groups wield a strong influence in Nebraska communities and Langan believes that a healthy planet is an overlapping goal of people of faith and conservationists alike. She hopes to help develop an interfaith working group to provide local leadership.
Since Langan started at Spring Creek Prairie, the center has enlarged its property, improved the prairie habitat, increased participation by the thousands, constructed a straw-bale education building, and is attracting more volunteers and visitors than ever before.
“Marian is the kind of person who can make a real difference in the health of our environment and the quality of our future,” said Audubon president John Flicker in a news release.
Said Langan: “A healthy future for our community is dependent on creating a healthy environment, meaning we need to do all we can to make sure this beautiful part of our heritage — the tallgrass prairie — survives. This fellowship will help broaden the number of people involved in the effort.”
Langan has been affiliated with Audubon Nebraska since 1999. Half of the TogetherGreen fellows come from within Audubon’s far-reaching national network; half channel their environmental efforts through other organizations.
Langan received master’s and bachelor’s degrees in biological sciences from the University of Nebraska. In addition to her current duties for Audubon, Langan serves on the Lancaster County Ecological Advisory Committee. She has been named Professional of the Year by the Nebraska Wildlife Society and Educator of the Year by the Nebraska Safari Club.
A complete list of the 2008 TogetherGreen fellows can be found at www.TogetherGreen.org/fellows.