Dr. Ken Foster, professor of political science and the program director of global studies, received the Clay County Recycler of the Year award.
Foster was honored for the way he connects his students with environmental issues in meaningful ways and ensures that his students have practical experiences studying solutions for challenging societal issues. Previous students have worked with Clay County staff helping address current recycling challenges in Clay County.
“We have been working with Ken for several years,” said Shannon Thompson, Clay County Resource Recovery Technician. “He inspires his students to tackle real-world issues through their classwork. In 2019, several groups from his classes worked with us on recycling projects.”
The award is given to the person who stood out in supporting the mission of Clay County Solid Waste.
“Dr. Foster was honored with the recycler of the year award for his work with young people preparing them to be the change we need in the world,” Thompson said.
“Over the past several years, I have had the privilege of partnering with Clay County Solid Waste, assigning student teams from my environmental policy course to assist with projects and placing student interns,” Foster said.
In addition to teaching and his role in global studies, Foster serves as the chair of Concordia’s President’s Sustainability Council. The council works with the Concordia community on projects to integrate learning about sustainability into daily life, within the college curriculum and beyond.
Foster also serves as the project manager for the Bush Resiliency Grant awarded to the Moorhead community. This grant is taking steps to ensure Moorhead remains a resilient city in the face of potential climate change. As project manager, Foster provides leadership and direction for resiliency projects.
“It's been very rewarding to help Clay County Solid Waste as it tries to reduce and better manage waste of all kinds, and my students have learned a lot through the partnership,” added Foster.