Environmental Faculty Member Presents Workshops, Award

An assistant professor of environmental technology at Pennsylvania College of Technology presented two workshops at the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators, held March 19-21 at the Raystown Lake Resort and Conference Center.

Debra A. Buckman presented a two-hour workshop on March 20 titled "Macroinverts Take Your Students Out in the Cold." The session, designed for middle and high school teachers, involved going to nearby Trough Creek State Park and examining the macroinvertebrates found in the streambed. Water-quality sampling also was done.

Buckman also presented a one-hour informational workshop on Marcellus Shale on March 21. That evening, she presented one of the PAEE awards prior to the banquet. The award, for contributing to environmental education outside the classroom, was given to the Southeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center, the Women's Health & Environmental Network, and the Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management Program for their work in reducing cleaning-chemical toxicity and pesticides in preschool classes in Philadelphia.

A Penn College faculty member since 1995, Buckman serves on the board of PAEE as its northcentral regional director.

She was joined at the conference by two environmental technology management students Mark A. Barbier, of Williamsport, and Kyle A. Shirey, of Clearfield who presented a poster-board and computer display of their senior project: a mapping of Black Hole Creek, for which they will photograph the majority of the length of the stream to document current conditions.

Buckman received a bachelor's degree in chemistry (with a minor in biology) from Mansfield University in 1972, obtained her secondary teaching certificate in chemistry and biology there the following year, and earned a master's degree in education with a chemistry emphasis from Arcadia University in 1977.

Prior to her arrival at Penn College, she was a high school biology/chemistry/physics teacher in Philadelphia, a chemist and environmental-compliance officer for Litton Electron Devices, and an environmental engineer at Textron Lycoming.

For more information about PAEE, contact Buckman by e-mail or visit online.

For more information about the majors offered by Penn College's School of Natural Resources Management, visit online or call 570-320-8038. For general information about Penn College, visit on the Web , e-mail or call toll-free 800-367-9222.