by JoAnn McIntosh, Clarksville-Montgomery County Conservation Committee
Dr. Joe Schiller, longtime member of the Sierra Club and active participant/advisor to the Clarksville-Montgomery County Conservation Committee, is the 2020 recipient of the Conservation Education Award presented by the Soil Conservation Service and local Kiwanis Clubs.
“I was very pleased to receive this award. I put a lot into environmental education throughout my career,” Schiller said. The Conservation Education Award recognizes “efforts by teachers to advance the wise use, protection and enhancement of the nation’s soil, water and related resources” by “creating innovative activities reaching students and a variety of other audiences.”
Schiller understands it is necessary to play the long game with environmental activism. “My career started when I was studying the effect of strip mining for coal on streams in Tennessee. It was a long-drawn-out struggle but it appears that we are near the end of the era of coal. It’s nice to see this happen in my lifetime.”
Schiller, now retired from the Biology Department of Austin Peay State University (APSU), spent much of his professional career in research on aquatic ecology and the bioassessment of watersheds. His doctoral dissertation for his Ph.D. in Zoology (UT Knoxville, 1986) was on the effects of strip mining on aquatic communities in the Cumberland Mountains. As a professor, he has taken graduate students back to this original study site to follow up on the stream health 20 years later, resulting in at least three masters’ theses on the topic.
Schiller taught courses in Zoological Diversity and Aquatic Biology and Water Quality Control, plus a course he created, Sustaining Biodiversity, an “honors/service-learning course that provided students an understanding of the interdisciplinary studies necessary for a sustainable biological future.”
Schiller’s work in conservation has extended beyond the formal classroom. He served as Conservation Chair for the Warioto Audubon Society, authored many articles for the lay public on conservation issues, and presented programs for educational events provided by Friends of Dunbar Cave. As a longtime member of the Sierra Club, he has provided expertise to the Chapter, local citizens and governmental officials on conservation issues.
Schiller’s recent and ongoing educational activities have focused on a contemporary aspect of conservation not usually associated with this award recognition: renewable energy. While at APSU, he initiated and served as advisor for a local chapter of Students Organized to Advance Renewable Energy, and worked with members to implement the Student Sustainability Fee on campus, which has funded many initiatives. He is a recognized expert and consultant on this very “current” issue.
Schiller and his family reside in southern Montgomery County on a small farming homestead personally designed to be “off the grid.”
Contact JoAnn at mcijoann@gmail.com.