November 1, 2019

Community Spirit Award presented to Koetz

Rebecca Koetz and Bill Bell Rebecca Koetz receives the Community Spirit Award from Bill Bell, vice president for human resources. The presentation was made at the start of the October joint APSAC-CSSAC meeting in Lawson Computer Science Building. (Purdue University photo/Mark Simons) Download image

Rebecca Koetz, a program coordinator in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, recently received the 2019 Community Spirit Award from APSAC and CSSAC during the two committees’ October joint meeting.

Koetz was nominated based on her multi-sided involvement with Engage Nature, a local nonprofit, during the past five years. Among her roles, she developed the Tippecanoe Senior Center nature program, which is led by Tami Conn, also of FNR, at Northend Community Center. That program exemplifies Koetz’s commitment to developing partnerships with local and university entities with the same interests.

Her work with Engage Nature draws upon the knowledge she has gained for and through her Purdue job, in which she emphasizes education through coordinating The Nature of Teaching, but there is a difference, she said in an interview: “My job lets me do that in an administrative way. In Engage Nature, I’m a volunteer in community outreach.”

She came to these interests though living in a Chicago suburb, she said, through family camping and lake swimming, as well as the inspiration of Jane Goodall. Koetz’s interests and career direction sharpened into focus as a student through the Environmental Education course taught by Dan Shepardson, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

The award recognizes significant contributions of Purdue staff employees to the life and welfare of the local community and its people. It is presented in recognition of outstanding service to the local community, society and humanity. The award, initiated in 2011 and being given for the eighth time, is a joint effort by the Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee and the Administrative and Professional Staff Advisory Committee. The presentation was made by Bill Bell, vice president for human resources.

Koetz also wrote a successful grant request to Duke Energy to fund the organization’s Nature Camp at Clegg Botanical Gardens, which, using local partnerships, introduces K-12 youth primarily from low-income households to local nature organizations and spaces, and natural resource career paths. Further, while mentoring leaders of some Engage Nature programs, she is leading the weekly Junior Nature Club. That club maintains the garden at Imagination Station downtown, learning skills, teamwork, the benefits of being outdoors, and healthful food choices.

She also has been a key player in the name change to Engage Nature, acquisition of other funding and development of a long-term vision for the organization. Her eagerness to grow the “people power” to fulfill her broad agenda is evident as she speaks. She is working on arranging for unpaid internships.

“I appreciate this recognition,” she said, “but I want it to raise awareness of our programs and our desire to collaborate.”

 


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