Bill Harmon, professor of agronomy, was interviewed June 26 by RFD Radio about receiving the Golden Owl award for postsecondary instructors at the Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Instructors Conference. The award recognizes ag educators who devote countless hours to positively impact the lives of their students. This was the first year the award included a category for which community college and university instructors were eligible.
Category Archives: Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Bill Harmon receives Golden Owl award
Bill Harmon with daughter Mackenzie, LLCC alum, who will begin her own ag teaching career this fall at Illini Bluffs High School
Bill Harmon, LLCC professor of agronomy, recently received the Golden Owl award for postsecondary instructors at the Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Instructors Conference in Carbondale June 19-21.
The award recognizes ag educators who devote countless hours to positively impact the lives of their students. This was the first year the award included a category for which post-secondary community college and university instructors were eligible. The Golden Owl award has been sponsored by Nationwide Insurance since 2020. Before this, the award was known as the Excellence in Teaching Award.
Harmon has taught agriculture at LLCC since 1997. Before joining the college, he taught high school agriculture at Morrisonville for seven years. Harmon is an LLCC alum and earned a bachelor’s degree in ag education and a master’s degree in agronomy from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Congratulations, Bill!
LLCC Students receive Geography Awards
Congratulations to LLCC students Sean McCarthy and Quinten Palmer who were honored at the Illinois Geographical Society’s annual awards banquet in Burlington, Iowa on April 26.
McCarthy received the Charles Womack Award, which was established to honor the memory and spirit of Charles “Chuck” Womack, geography professor at Lakeland Community College. The award is given to one student who has excelled in both academics and extracurricular activities in the geography program at their community college. McCarthy plans to graduate with an associate in arts in May 2025.
Palmer received the Outstanding Community College Two-Year Student Geography Award. This award goes to a student who has excelled in one or more geography classes. Palmer, a geography major at LLCC, will graduate in December 2024, after which he plans on continuing his studies in geography at Illinois State University.
Sean McCarthy
Quinten Palmer
LLCC Student Chosen for a summer Research Immersion program
Congratulations to Kim Hagemann, an LLCC biology student selected to participate in an in-depth research immersion program in Urbana this summer. The Microbial Interactions Create Research Opportunities for Community College Students (MICRO-CCS) is a 10-week program that includes a Research Orientation Bootcamp and professional development activities along with the research opportunities.
LLCC and Lanphier Beehive Co-op
The LLCC Apiary has a new beehive sponsored by Lanphier High School. The Lanphier Art Club recently painted a beehive that will be put into use this spring. The new hive is a collaboration between LLCC’s Biology Professor David Cox and the Lanphier Science Department. Professor Cox will share data on the hive with Lanphier science classes. Lanphier dual-credit biology students will visit the hive once a year to see the bees, collect data and harvest honey.
LLCC at Central Illinois STEM Fair
LLCC Mathematics and Computer Science, Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and Workforce Institute represented the college at the seventh annual Central Illinois STEM Fair in Rochester on April 10. LLCC promoted STEM education using robots, chemistry experiments, flying drones, microscope demonstrations, live Venus fly traps, geology trivia, interactive GIS displays and many other activities.
Special thanks to the faculty and staff who participated, including Dean Butzow, Jennifer Davis, Jeff Martin, David Pietrzak, Jennifer Ram, Sam Reif, Scott Searcy, Rich Teeter, Brent Todd, Lisa Volk-Draper and Rosie the Snake. Many students also participated, including Farren Ackerman, Isaac Barrett, Angelea Cooke, Liam Green, Sean McCarthy, Aaron Robertson, Alex Sidener and Preston Siewert.
26th annual LLCC Livestock Judging Contest
Over 800 FFA and 4-H members from Illinois and Indiana participated in the 26th annual LLCC Livestock Judging Contest on Thursday at the Christian County Fairgrounds in Taylorville. The contest was hosted by the LLCC Livestock Judging Team and Agriculture Club.
Livestock judging teaches students critical thinking skills, public speaking and can lead to collegiate scholarships. Contestants in the event judge classes of beef, swine, sheep and goats, and they evaluate the animals on their quality as either breeding stock or for meat.
In the news
Joshua Dineen, chef specialist, wrote today’s Epicuriosity 101 column in the State Journal-Register, “I love sushi!”
LLCC’s Solar Eclipse Watch Party was featured by the State Journal-Register as part of their eclipse coverage on Monday.
Eclipse Watch Party was outta this world
Students, faculty and staff experienced the total solar eclipse together at the watch party, sponsored by LLCC Student Life. Special thanks to Deborah Wheeler‘s 3-D Art and Design class for creating and constructing Linc’s larger-than-life eclipse glasses. Check out our photos below and on social media. And, if you didn’t get a chance to watch “live.” Be sure to check out the Lincoln Land Community College Facebook page and watch Professor Samantha Reif‘s live hits from the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds as she and her team experienced the totality of the eclipse on Monday.
Today’s the day. Join us for the Solar Eclipse Watch Party!
A total solar eclipse will be visible from southern Illinois on Monday, April 8. While the eclipse will still be visible from the Springfield area, it will not quite be total. LLCC is providing an opportunity for those not making the journey to southern Illinois to still experience the total solar eclipse through the college’s Facebook page and activities on the LLCC-Springfield campus during the Solar Eclipse Watch Party from 12:30-3:30 p.m.
Samantha Reif, LLCC professor of geology, will be in southern Illinois and going live on Facebook every half hour starting at 12:30 p.m. to show what the sun and surrounding environment look like, provide information on the astronomical event and answer questions from viewers.
“Illinois is set for a rare, twice-in-a-lifetime event — back-to-back total solar eclipses crossing on the exact same spot. Carbondale played host in 2017 and will do so once again on April 8 of this year,” says Reif. “We’ll be using technology to enable students, faculty, staff and community to still have an opportunity to experience what a total eclipse is like.”
Those who follow LLCC’s Facebook page will receive notifications when live video feeds are taking place. The video will be available on the LLCC Facebook page afterward as well.
Reif’s live-streamed videos will be shown on a screen in A. Lincoln Commons on campus. The LLCC Library will be handing out solar eclipse glasses during the event while supplies last. Other activities include exhibits from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Illinois State Museum; music from DJ Yinka; and space-themed snacks. The Logger Activities Board will help event participants to also make pinhole viewers to safely view the eclipse event.
“It’s important to keep safety in mind when viewing the eclipse,” explains Reif. “Eclipse glasses can be used, or welding glass #12 or 13 can be used to directly see the eclipse. Sunglasses provide no protection.”
Reif says indirect viewing is safe and easy. “A pinhole viewer can be made by poking a hole through a piece of cardboard, stiff paper or even a paper plate. Turn your back to the sun, hold your viewer in front of you so the sun shines on it and project the shadow onto the sidewalk. The hole will project a perfect, clear image of the sun and the moon passing in front of it.”
LLCC’s Facebook page can be found at facebook.com/LincolnLandCommunityCollege. Reif also has more information about solar eclipses available on youtube.com/@llccedu.