Three School of Environment and Natural Resources faculty have been recognized for their teaching excellence in agricultural and related areas in higher education. Nicholas Basta, David Hix, and Roger Williams received the 2018 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Educator Award at the 2018 NACTA annual meeting in Ames, IA in June.
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Nick Basta is a Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry in the School of Envir onment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. He has a very active teaching and research program focused in environmental science. His teaching program focuses on soil environmental chemistry, environmental fate and transport and urban soil assessment and remediation. His soil environmental chemistry research program is known for novel bioavailability based remediation of soil. Dr. Basta is an active member of several international scientific committees focused on environmental fate and remediation of soil contaminants. He has served on several Editorial Boards including 12 years for the Journal of Environmental Quality. He is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America and the American Society of America. Dr. Basta earned his BS in Chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University, MS in Soil Science and PhD in Soil Chemistry with a minor in Analytical Chemistry from Iowa State University. |
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David M. Hix is a Professor of Forestry at The Ohio State University and a certified forester. He focuses on the discovery and sharing of new knowledge and understanding of the ecology and silviculture of forest ecosystems. The main focus of his research program is the structural dynamics of forest ecosystems in response to human-caused and natural forms of disturbance. Originally from Michigan, Dr. Hix has always been interested in how forests change over time. In that regard, he teaches a graduate-level course in the successional dynamics of forests in addition to three foundation field-based forestry courses. Since 2013 he has served as the Coordinator for the Forestry Program and led the School of Environment and Natural Resources’ efforts to attain reaccreditation by the Society of American Foresters. He presently serves as a member of the Ohio Forestry Advisory Council and the Hilliard Shade Tree Commission. |
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Roger Williams received the BS and MS degrees in Forest Biology and Forestry, respectively, from The Ohio State University and the PhD in Forest Resource Management from the University of Maine. He served on the Forestry Faculty at Louisiana Tech University prior to his current position with the Forestry Faculty in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. Dr. Williams served as Director on a project, funded by the U.S. State Department, to redevelop the forestry sector in southwest Siberia. He was awarded the Golden Silk Ball Award from the Chinese government for his contributions to the economic development in Guangxi. He served as Chairman of technical sessions in the Conference on Biodiversity and Ecosystems and the International Conference of Emerging Industries held in China. His most recent work focuses on the use of fire in forest management, and the ecology and biodiversity of forests in south China. |
The North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) is a professional society that focuses on promoting, recognizing and rewarding excellence in teaching agriculture and related areas at the post secondary level in North America. Members of NACTA are from two-year and four-year colleges, public and private, and have a common bond of teaching agriculture and related subjects. Through the use of competitive awards, NACTA annually recognizes outstanding teaching and publication.