Recent graduate and Environmental Coordinator Deb Coon won the Dr. Pamela M. Langley Award for Exceptional Research in the Natural Sciences. NHTI – Concord’s Community College gives this award annually to a Biology, Environmental Science, or Sustainable Agriculture student in recognition of an outstanding research contribution to NHTI and the Concord community. This award was established in honor of Dr. Pamela M. Langley – science educator and champion of the college.
Nominated by her capstone professors, Deb won this award because of her exceptional work with the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau (NHB). NHB keeps records of known locations of rare species and natural communities. Deb researched 43 globally rare plant species (in four months) to identify additional records of occurrences that may not be in the New Hampshire database. The objective of her research was to review records from outside resources to locate the 43 protected plant species geographically. Deb cross-referenced records from the Consortium of Northeastern Herbaria (CNH) against information contained within the state database to identify additional records for inclusion in the NHB database.
This review was the first systematic digital herbaria record review for NHB for globally rare species. For this reason, NHB identified rare plant species that would benefit the most from this research at this time. Her commitment to this critical research has earned her this recognition from her professors.
Join us in congratulating Deb on this outstanding achievement, and we are proud to have her on our Environmental Permitting team!
Photo Courtesy of Deb Smith, NHTI
Pictured: (L) Tracey Lesser Program Coordinator for Environmental Science and Sustainable Agriculture/Department of Natural Sciences NHTI (R) Deb Coon Dr. Pamela M. Langley Award for Exceptional Research in the Natural Sciences recipient
