The National Association for Interpretation (NAI) President Jay Miller and NAI Executive Director Margo Carlock recently presented NAI’s President’s Award to Ryan Finchum, Co-Director of Colorado State University’s Center for Protected Area Management (CPAM) during a November 16 ceremony at the NAI National Conference in Denver.
This award is a merited recognition of Finchum’s efforts in organizing a global conservation conference amidst a challenging political landscape in Brazil, his tireless work as Co-Director of CPAM, and their global conservation successes.
“Ryan and the CPAM group are making a significant difference in protected area management in Latin America.” Stated Michael Manfredo, Department Head of the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources. “This award is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work that Ryan is doing and it is well deserved.”
This award is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work that Ryan is doing and it is well deserved.
NAI Deputy Director Paul Caputo shared that Ryan was the driving force behind getting NAI’s 2019 International Conference to Brazil. He and his Brazilian planning team created an amazing experience for everyone who attended or who participated in some way. Because of Ryan’s hard-work and dedication to the field of interpretation it was one of NAI’s most successful international conferences, and importantly, paved the way for professional relationships to be built that continue today. It took a lot of behind-the-scenes work by Ryan to make this conference a success! His leadership and tireless efforts on NAI’s behalf make him most deserving of this year’s President’s Award.
The National Association for Interpretation is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) professional association for more than 7,500 members involved in the interpretation of natural and cultural heritage resources in settings such as parks, zoos, museums, nature centers, aquaria, botanical gardens, and historical sites. For more than 50 years, NAI and its parent organizations have encouraged networking, training, and collaboration among members and partners in support of our mission: inspiring leadership and excellence to advance heritage interpretation as a profession.
The Center for Protected Area Management is an outreach center of the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. CPAM is also housed within the Warner College of Natural Resources, one of the most comprehensive Natural Resource College’s in the world. CPAM’s mission is to extend the Colorado State University land-grant mission by contributing to the conservation, planning, and management of the world’s protected areas and the landscapes and seascapes that connect them through capacity building, applied research, and technical collaboration with the organizations that help manage them and the communities whose well-being depends on them. Images courtesy of NAI.
Images courtesy of NAI.