NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Steve Chase at 603.283.2336 or Jan Fiderio at 603.283.2107

May 7, 2008 for Immediate Release

Antioch University New England's Environmental Studies present Environmental Excellence Awards

Stonyfield Farm's Samuel Kaymen and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary's David Wiley to be honored May ninth

Keene, NH - The Antioch University New England Department of Environmental Studies will present two Environmental Excellence Awards on May ninth at 4 p.m. in the school's community room. The awards are presented each year to an alumni and and to an individual in our wider community that have made significant contributions to sustainability and environmental protection through their work or personal actions.

This year's recipients are Samuel Kaymen, the founder of Stonyfield Farm, and David Wiley, the Research Coordinator for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. (See biographical information below.) The awards will be presented at the department's end of the year ceremony for finishing students and their families. The awards selection committee members included ES faculty members Steve Chase and Sue Gentile, ES master's student Christine Gleason, and ES doctoral student Mercedes Quesada-Embid.

About Samuel Kaymen
2008 Community Member Environmental Excellence Award Recipient
Samuel Kaymen, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, studied Bio-Dynamic Agriculture with Herbert Koepf and Peter Escher in the 1970s. In his earlier career, Kaymen served as a Director on the board of the Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association, founded the Northeast Organic Farmers Association (NOFA), founded and served as Director of The Rural Education Center, and served on the administrative council of The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NESARE) program of the USDA.
Kaymen founded Stonyfield Farm in 1983 and after 17 years in the yogurt-making business, decided to try something new. He is presently the Vice-Chair of EARTH University Foundation, a private, non-profit, international University contributing to the sustainable development of the humid tropics through education in the agricultural sciences and natural resources. He also serves on the boards of both Sustainable Harvest International the School for Community Economic Development at Southern NH University and the Midcoast Green Collaborative.

About David N. Wiley
2008 Alumni Environmental Excellence Award Recipient (alumni)
David N. Wiley is the Research Coordinator for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and has been investigating the marine environment for over 20 years. He received his PhD in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England with a focus on environmental decision-making and conservation biology in 2001. Dr. Wiley's research has ranged from studying the reproductive and foraging ecology of baleen whales, to mapping marine toxic/hazardous dumpsites. He has worked with fishermen to redesign fishing gear to reduce the risk of whale entanglement and pioneered methods to successfully rescue mass stranded whales and dolphins. Most recently, his research led to the shifting of shipping lanes into the port of Boston, MA, an international effort to reduce the risk of ship strike to endangered whales. Currently he is leading a multi-organizational study of sound and noise in the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary and a multi-organizational study using advanced multi-sensor telemetry and novel visualization software to explore the underwater behavior of endangered whales. His results have appeared in numerous scientific journals. He is the past recipient of a Switzer Environmental Leadership Award, a Gulf of Maine Visionary Award, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' Human Hero award, and was a 2007 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Employee of the Year.

About Antioch University New England
This is Antioch University New England's forty-fourth year as an institution of higher education. The graduate school was founded in 1964 and is now one of the five graduate campuses of Antioch University.

Antioch University New England, based in Keene, New Hampshire, offers rigorous, practice-oriented, values-based Master's, Doctoral and certificate programs to more than one thousand students. Programs in education, leadership and management, environmental studies, and psychology reflect a dedication to activism, social justice, community service, and sustainability.

Last Updated: 3/4/10