College of Agricultural Sciences

Spotlight

Forestry Poster Project Wins National Award

Sanford Smith, lecturer in forest resources and natural resources and youth extension specialist in the School of Forest Resources, recently received a 2006 Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals Gold Award in the Computerized Graphic Presentation or Slide Set category for his program, “Forest Awareness Poster Presentation,” at the group’s business meeting in Park City, Utah.

A collaboration between Smith and a graphic design studio class taught by Keith Cummings, assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Arts in the College of the Liberal Arts, the project is designed to educate youth about the forest resources of Pennsylvania by tapping the creative ideas and talent of some of the country's most promising visual arts students.

Cynthia Carey, multimedia and design specialist, and Gary Abdullah, writer/editor, both in in information and communication technologies, also were recognized for design and narration, respectively, for the project. The presentation can be viewed and downloaded on-line for free.

According to Smith, working with the fresh perspectives of the student graphic designers was “like having a new translation” of issues he works with all the time. “They weren’t forestry students so they didn’t have preconceived notions,” he says. “We wanted their point of view and their way of communicating. We gave them an orientation to forestry, talked about the topics and then let them do their own research and develop posters. I worked with them to make sure the posters were correct but other than that, I didn’t have to tell them much.

“ Sometimes it takes an ‘outsider’ to communicate what we have trouble saying to kids. So it was good to give college students a chance to communicate forestry messages to middle and secondary school kids.”

Winning the award was gratifying, Smith notes, because Penn State’s submission was chosen for the best-of-show award from a large field of top-flight entrants, and because it was a team effort.

“ It was a national competition so there were lots of strong entries in the contest,” he says. “I was impressed when I saw the second- and third-place winners. The posters were designed by graphic design students with an art instructor and forestry instructor, and then I wrote the script. From ICT, Gary Abdullah did the narration and Cyndi Carey did the Web work. So it was a large team of Penn State students, faculty and staff.”

View the Poster Project Presentation

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