Jared McGovern, Curator of Conservation Programs at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, recently received the Bohumil Shimek Environmental Educator Award for outstanding efforts by an environmental educator. This honor is given by the Iowa Association of Naturalists (IAN) and the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition (ICEC).
The award recognizes a formal or non-formal educator for innovative environmental education programming beyond their job expectations.
The IAN/ICEC Awards for Excellence in Environmental Education are awarded annually to recognize incredible contributions to the advancement of environmental literacy in Iowa.
“Jared McGovern is a fun, enthusiastic fellow whose passions sometimes stretch the boundaries of reality, such as those times he makes the case that, in his mind, freshwater mussels are every bit as elegant and beautiful as the Monarch Butterfly,” Dean Houghton of The Furrow Magazine said.
McGovern believes in people and their capacity to make great progress in improving their communities through advocacy, research, creativity, collaboration, and education. He believes people are the solution to environmental change, and therefore, his work is focused on inspiring hope, sharing success stories of those championing change, and facilitating fun and meaningful experiences for people to gain a better understanding of their relationship and society’s relationship with nature.
Jared joins a long history of outstanding environmental educators in the state of Iowa. The Bohumil Shimek Environmental Educator Award is named in honor of Iowa’s first Environmental Educator.