As a boy, he was drawn to the woodlands, marshes, orchards and streams surrounding his small country home in Oregon. As a man, he has fallen in love with the river basin of the Escalante River in Southern Utah, with its secret natural arches and bridges.

As a professor, he has passed on his passion for the environment and has recently been recognized for doing so.

Thomas R. Tanner, Iowa State professor of environmental studies, was recently named a recipient of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 1997 Environmental Excellence Award. The EPA region seven, including Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, presented the award to Tanner.

Perhaps the greatest testimonials to his teaching abilities are the letters written by former students who dedicated their lives to environmental careers.

“I give anonymous evaluations out at the end of each semester for students to write comments,” Tanner said.

“The most gratifying part of my job is to see comments like, ‘You opened my eyes’ or ‘I had no idea’ … and hearing from graduates who tell me that I had an influence in shaping their thinking,” he said.

Region seven administrator Dennis Grams said students were partially responsible for selecting the teachers to be recognized.

“These educators were nominated by people who had firsthand knowledge of their effectiveness — their students,” he said.

Grams explained that the awards program was established to recognize educators who have an impact on young people’s lives and, by doing so, “make the world a better and healthier place to live.”

Besides teaching and advising ISU undergraduate students, Tanner has also contributed a vast amount of writings to environmental studies issues.

Tanner said his motivation to teach environmental conservation stems from a deeply rooted passion for “wild places.”

“I grew up in a small country town in Oregon — hunting, fishing, hiking,” Tanner said. “Within 10 minutes, I could walk to a wild place, to the river and fish for trout. I guess it got deeply into my system at an earlier age.”

In 1980 Tanner published an article in the Journal of Environmental Education titled “Significant Life Experiences: A new research area in environmental education,” which has been widely utilized as a reference for environmental educators.

According to his colleagues, Tanner is one of the more frequently quoted authors in the core literature of environmental education. Tanner’s writings and research methodologies on the influences that have sculpted great conservationists have affected students as well as teachers.

Tanner said he is not only dedicated to the environment, but also to those adventurous people, like himself, who share his love for discovering new places.

“The main reason that I teach environmental conservation is not simply for environmental protection, but what I really aim to do is this: If someone comes one, 10, 100 years later to a place where I have been, I don’t want to rob them of that feeling of ‘Gee Whiz! No one’s ever been here before!'” he said.

Tanner is currently on a one-year leave of absence to edit a special issue of the British scholarly journal Environmental Education Research.

Tanner’s EPA award follows a previous prestigious research excellence award he earned in 1990 for Outstanding Career Contributions to Research in Environmental Education from the North American Association for Environmental Education.