Month: October 2021

Cassius Cash, Superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, was recently honored with the Walter T. Cox Award by the Clemson University Institute for Parks in recognition of his sustained leadership and achievement in public service and conservation.

The Institute for Parks presents the annual awards program, which is named for George B. Hartzog Jr., the seventh director of the National Park Service (NPS), to showcase leading figures in the field of conservation. Specific awards were named after visionary leaders that Hartzog respected and admired. Award recipients are following in Hartzog’s footsteps by making significant contributions to the management of parks and preservation of our natural, historical and cultural heritage.

The Walter T. Cox Award recognizes park administrators that exemplify Dr. Cox’s distinguished career in education and public service, which included his tenure as President of Clemson University and as the Director of the Santee-Cooper Authority.

For the last five years, Cash, a native of Memphis, TN, has been back on his home turf serving as superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – an accomplishment of which Jeff Hallo, Interim Chair of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University, recognizes as no small feat.

“In his role as superintendent, Cassius has proven himself to be a devoted steward of the land,” Hallo said. “Managing a park of this size is not without its own set of challenges, but his vision for the park’s land and programs has visitors’ best interests in mind.”

Since his arrival in the Great Smoky Mountains in February of 2015, Cash continues to meet the demands of more than 11.4 million park visitors annually. Most recently, he supervised the opening of the newest 15-mile section of the Foothills Parkway which extends from Walland, TN, to Wears Valley, TN.

Cash has been an in-demand speaker for nearly four years, sharing his passion for leadership, wild places, and inspiring youth to become tomorrow’s leaders. He has spoken to the Knoxville Bar Association, National Boy Scouts of America, and to the Congressional Black Caucus, to name a few. He has also been interviewed and featured in several magazines and news outlet such as Knoxville’s CityView magazine, Huffington Post, Blue Ridge Countrymagazine and CBS News.

As Cash leads the Great Smokies Park into its 103^rd year, his message about the importance of embracing challenges and taking risks, the power of relationships and community and the importance of knowing yourself is just as relevant now as it was at the park’s conception.

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The Clemson University Institute for Parks (CUIP) provides research, education, training, and outreach that enhances the management of the world’s parks and protected areas. It accomplishes this by providing park and protected area managers with innovative research to support science-based decision-making; and by developing current and future leaders in the park movement by providing interdisciplinary and transformative education and training programs. The Institute currently consists of 35 Fellows and 10 Scholars working on park-related research.

Visit the CUIP website for more information about the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Environmental Awards program and its recipients.

Joel Berger, world-renowned conservationist, author and wildlife conservation chair in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University, was recently honored with the Benton H. Box Award by the Clemson University Institute for Parks in recognition of his academic and instructional leadership in the environmental field.

The Institute presents the annual awards program, which is named for George B. Hartzog Jr., the seventh director of the National Park Service, to showcase leading figures in the field of conservation. Specific awards were named after visionary leaders that Hartzog respected and admired. Award recipients are following in Hartzog’s footsteps by making significant contributions to the management of parks and preservation of our natural, historical and cultural heritage.

The Benton H. Box Award recognizes academic professionals that exemplify Dr. Box’s distinguished career as an educator and administrator. Berger earned this year’s award for outstanding leadership in conservation and the pursuit of knowledge that has taken him all over the world.

The breadth and depth of Joel’s contributions to the field of conservation are remarkable,” said Jeff Hallo, Interim Chair of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University. “His research crosses cultures, pushes boundaries and strives to preserve and protect our planet. He is an invaluable leader in conservation.”

Berger grew up in Los Angeles, California, where his love for surfing and desert and mountain explorations sparked a passion for science. He realized at an early age the importance of understanding biological interactions – and in an effort to conserve the diverse natural resources of our planet, began his important work of studying endangered and lesser-known animal species, climate and environmental change and migration and connectivity. Most recently, his research has been focused on how society’s burgeoning passion for play and travel affect species on a local scale.

From studying muskoxen in the Russian and Alaskan Artic and wild yaks in the Himalayas to black rhinos in the Namib Desert of southern Africa, Berger’s work has taken him to the farthest reaches of the world and back again. He has published six books – one of which is “Extreme Conservation – Life at the Edges of the World” – and has garnered support from the Guggenheim Foundation, Smithsonian, National Geographic and the National Science Foundation. His work has also resulted in the only federally protected migration corridor, Path of the Pronghorn, in the United States.

“I know in my soul that the issue is not how many peer-reviewed publications we’ve scripted, but rather how we can reach and inform policymakers at levels that incite change,” said Berger. “We have to do more than just ‘science’ to advocate for our brilliant planet.”

Berger is currently the Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair in Wildlife Conservation at Colorado State University and a senior scientist for the Bronx-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

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The Clemson University Institute for Parks (CUIP) provides research, education, training, and outreach that enhances the management of the world’s parks and protected areas. It accomplishes this by providing park and protected area managers with innovative research to support science-based decision-making; and by developing current and future leaders in the park movement by providing interdisciplinary and transformative education and training programs. The Institute currently consists of 35 Fellows and 10 Scholars working on park-related research.

Visit the CUIP website for more information about the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Environmental Awards program and this year’s recipients.