Ferrell Named Greenville Tech’s Professor of the Year

GREENVILLE, SC – May 26, 2011 – Kathy Ferrell, a biological sciences instructor at Greenville Technical College, has been selected as the college’s professor of the year, and will compete with candidates from two-year colleges across the state for the “Governor’s Professor of the Year” honor, which will be announced later this summer.

Ferrell has taught at the college since 2001. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in biological sciences from Converse College.

As a faculty advisor of the Greenville Tech Recycling and Sustainability Coalition, Ferrell works with students, faculty, and staff to establish and promote resource reduction programs through education and hands-on events. Ferrell has been instrumental in the coalition’s participation in RecycleMania, a nationwide competition among colleges and universities that helps promote waste reduction activities. Other efforts have included participation of EarthFest, an event that draws vendors demonstrating practices, products, and programs for ecological responsibility. She also organized the inaugural Reedy River Clean Up on Greenville Tech’s Barton Campus, an effort that this year led to collection of 65 tires, a shopping cart, yards of PVC pipe, highway traffic control supplies, several bicycles, 100 pounds of decaying metal, a half trailer of trash, and a pair of copperheads. In addition, Ferrell is working to help create an outdoor learning lab on the college’s campus, an effort that includes restoring the health of the river and creating a space for sustainable curriculum enrichment for all courses.

Ferrell and Dr. Lee Edwards, also a biological sciences instructor, recently received an award for Innovation of the Year from the League for Innovation in the Community College for their efforts to establish the outdoor lab.