Congratulations goes to Marilyn DuFour for being the Conservation Educator of the year from Lucas Soil & Water Conservation District. She is a Senior Environmental Specialist in the City of Toledo Department of Public Utilities and currently serves in the Industrial Pretreatment Section of the Division of Environmental Services. She has worked for the City for almost 21 years, including 11 years as an Assistant Naturalist in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry. Marilyn’s passion for education and water resources developed early and has been fed by a broad range of environmental education experiences: Girl Scouting, the Ohio Youth Conservation Corps, a B.S. in Environmental Biology from Heidelberg University (home of the National Center for Water Quality Research), the U.S. Peace Corps Marine Fisheries Extension Program in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and seasonal positions with the Cleveland Metroparks and six different outdoor centers in New England.

In 2009, she received the Clean Streams Partner Award. Marilyn joined the Maumee Remedial Action Plan (RAP) in 1998 as a member of the Ottawa River Action Group. In 2000, she initiated the Ottawa Park Kickoff and a Youth Battle of the Bags Challenge for our annual river bank clean up, Clean Your Streams, primarily as an outreach to local youth groups. She continues as a Planning Team Member as Kickoff Coordinator of the Ottawa Park Kickoff and Challenge Coordinator for Clean Your Streams, which has grown to involve more than 1,000 volunteers in 18 years. Marilyn is also a founding member of the Rain Garden Initiative of Toledo-Lucas County (RGI) and continues to serve on its Public Outreach and Education Committee. She is among the RGI partners working on its current outreach project, developing a day camp curriculum, the Junior Watershed Academy, funded by a GM Powertrain Plant City Grant.

We are delighted to hear that she was awarded the Conservation Award for her countless hours of dedicated work, both on the job and as a volunteer. Her tireless passion and rive to make our city and environment better is inspiration to all who work with her. Thank you, Marilyn.