U of M Crookston Senior Michael McMahon, St. Paul, Minn., Recognized with Student Conservationist Award at Annual Meeting of Minnesota Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society

2016 Mar 21

University of Minnesota Crookston student Michael McMahon was honored with the Student Conservationist Award by the Minnesota Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society at their annual meeting held in St. Cloud, Minn., on March 14, 2016. The selection criteria for the Student Conservationist Award are scholastic achievement, demonstrated leadership, and showing significant promise as a future conservation professional.

McMahon, a senior a senior double majoring in aviation and natural resources from Saint Paul, Minn., (55130). Professor Dan Svedarsky recognizes the high-level skills and abilities of McMahon, "Michael is a young man with a multitude of abilities, practical skills, resourcefulness, who is well-versed in natural resources field skills," says Svedarsky. "He has purposefully sought out job opportunities where he not only honed his natural resources skills but his human relations skills as well. In a word, Michael is outstanding."

McMahon was the co-recipient of the 2015 Norman Pankratz Conservation Award, the most prestigious award given by the U of M Crookston's natural resources program. He has been president of the Natural Resources Club, the Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society, and the Aviation Club, along with holding other offices as well. He served as representative at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner's Roundtable in January 2016.

Background

The Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization -- founded in 1943 -- that serves as an advocate for conservation professionals and for science-based conservation practice, programs, and policy. SWCS has over 4,000 members around the world. For more, visit http://www.swcs.org.