Over the past 53 years, Melvin Brown has watched the saplings of the Kitzmiller Botanical Garden and Arboretum mature into towering trees and his former students blossom into stewards of the environment. During his seven-year tenure at the Kitzmiller High School, Dr. Brown turned an eight-acre lot into a park that the town of Kitzmiller could be proud of, and a place where students could study local and introduced plant species.

Dr. Brown later went on to teach science at the college level and spent a decade as a Frostburg State University Biology Department Head.

As one of the region's leading experts on local flora, Brown has written several scholarly books on the woody and herbaceous plants of Maryland. The publications have not only received academic acclaim but also serve as the leading field guides to plants in this region used by conservationists, teachers and environmental enthusiasts.

Dr. Brown was awarded the 2003 Richard A. Johnson Environmental Education Award in recognition of his diverse and sustained contributions to environmental education during his 64-year career.