What Alan Hammond loves best about teaching environmental science is the never-ending supply of subject material. A bottle of water from a local stream, a pile of dirt from the garden, a dozen unhatched bobwhite eggs. Through the years, these have all been the subjects of lesson plans in his Allegany High School environmental science class.

Mr. Hammond knew he wanted to go into environmental education after spending his childhood exploring nature on his family farm in Bedford. In 1973, he graduated from Shippensburg University with a degree in earth science, geography, and secondary education. Right out of college, Mr. Hammond was named the new earth sciences teacher at Allegany High School, where he would continue to inspire students to be environmental stewards for more than 31 years.

Mr. Hammond continues to inspire his students at Allegany High School to this day, and something he plans to continue well into the future. It is his strong belief that it is everyone's responsibility to be custodians of the environment and to pass it on to future generations.

Alan Hammond is being honored with the 2005 Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award in recognition of his outstanding dedication to teaching and leadership for environmental education in Allegany County. The honorarium associated with this award will be used to sponsor science field trips and purchase needed equipment for the Allegany High School Ecology Club, which Mr. Hammond founded in 1991.