The Integrated Program in the Environment (IPE) is proud to announce that Michael Chitwood, property manager of the IU Research and Teaching Preserve (RTP), will receive a Staff Merit Award from the University at a ceremony on February 5.

The award recognizes Chitwood's outstanding service as a mentor to students, colleague to faculty and staff, steward of IU's 1,600 acres of natural preserves, and facilitator of environmental research.

"Michael’s energy, compassion, and expertise in everything he does are unmatched," Sarah Osterhoudt, director of the Integrated Program in the Environment and managing director of the RTP, said. "I can think of no better person to receive this award."

It's been a long time coming for the lifelong Hoosier and Bloomingtonian.

"IU’s influence has shaped the direction of my life since I was a fifth grader and I attended Bradford Woods and learned I could make a career out of the outdoors," Chitwood said.

As a college student, he studied Outdoor Recreation and Resource Management at IU. In pursuit of his degree, he got assigned to the RTP in an event planning and programming course with now-IPE-affiliated faculty member Bill Ramos, School of Public Health.

"I was overwhelmed with the potential a program like the RTP could offer students, and I was frustrated I didn't know about it sooner," Chitwood said.

After his class project ended, he joined the RTP staff as a trail crew intern, eventually accepting the role as property manager a few years after earning his degree.

"I have never regretted putting the effort or the time into the RTP or back into my community," Chitwood said. "The land means so much to me, but it is the passion of the students I work with and the transfer of skills and knowledge that makes my job fulfilling. The work I have had a chance to do with some of the most brilliant minds I have encountered has been invigorating, all while watching my former students go off to be stewards and mentors themselves, carrying that knowledge I shared onto others all while growing themselves."

During his time at IU, Chitwood's colleagues and students said he's combined "compassion" and "empathy" with "deep ecological knowledge" to expand RTP. What began as a field research station is now also a place for classes, teams, service-learning, native plant seedlings, scholarships, and community.

Chitwood's respect for nature are evident to all who know him, including the students he supervises and mentors, and his colleagues.

“Michael cares deeply about his colleagues and mentees as individuals, and he invests an extraordinary amount of time and energy in guiding them towards their personal pinnacle of success," said Elspeth Hayden, associate director of IPE. "For one student, this could mean simply staying in school for the rest of the semester. For another, it might be landing a prestigious job with the Fish and Wildlife after graduation. ...

"It’s unclear to me how there are enough hours in the day to spread this much love and care while also meeting the highest standards of work output, but Michael manages it with aplomb."

It's this care Chitwood hopes his students carry forward.

"I enjoy nothing more to call on my former students turned colleagues, and have them share new knowledge with me," he said. "I always hope that they remember to be kind, truthful, curious, and empathetic out of everything I share, as neither humanity nor forests can exist without community."

In addition to the significant impact he's made on dozens of student's and staff member's lives, as well as his contribution to environmental research, other recent accomplishments include:

• Building a pavilion on University Lake
• Helping students start a native plant nursery
• Managing (and sometimes creating) trails, waterways, and forests

"Michael creates community wherever he goes, gathering people together from different backgrounds and disciplines around a shared love for land," Osterhoudt said. "As one person summarized, Michael is the person to call for all things big and small at the RTP: from fixing data servers, to helping a student find a summer internship, to designing a multi-million-dollar research grant with faculty members, to hot-wiring a lawn mower." 

Interested in bringing your class to RTP and working with Michael? Fill out the Teaching Activity Survey.

As the hub for all environmental and sustainability-related programming on IU's Bloomington campus, IPE connects students with the experiences and support they need to excel as the next generation of environmental leaders.