Posted: 10.22.2011

As a freshman in high school, Keith Bollinger, from Buffalo City, Wis., enrolled in a natural resources class. It was a prudent decision, as Bollinger today is a wildlife ecology major at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He also volunteers and is employed with two government services helping to restore Wisconsin prairies and control invasive plants. These decisions have now won him top honors.

The National FFA Organization has named the 21-year-old the 2011 American Star in Agriscience, one of the organization’s highest honors. He competed with three other finalists at the 84th National FFA Convention, Oct. 19-22, in Indianapolis.

Each year at the national FFA convention, 16 national finalists—four in each category—vie for the organization’s top awards: American Star Farmer, American Star in Agribusiness, American Star in Agricultural Placement and American Star in Agriscience. These awards honor students who have developed outstanding agricultural skills and competencies through their supervised agricultural experience (SAE); demonstrated outstanding management skills; earned the American FFA Degree – the organization’s highest level of accomplishment; and met other agricultural education, scholastic and leadership requirements. Each finalist was interviewed by a panel of judges, who ultimately named the top candidate in each area. The winner was announced in an onstage convention ceremony and received a plaque and an award of $4,000. The runners-up also received plaques and $2,000 each.

Bollinger, a member of the Cochrane-Fountain High School FFA Chapter, was hooked on natural resource management after a project required him to count Sandhill Cranes in his county during that freshman natural resources class. In his SAE, Bollinger has monitored the water quality of two local streams, raised and released 80,000 Galerucella Beetles to help control and eradicate the invasive plant purple loosestrife and restored bluff prairies to encourage repopulation of native species. Many of those efforts came when he volunteered with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bollinger has developed a positive rapport with numerous natural resource management professionals in the area, and was hired as a biological technician for the USFWS where he gained experience by surveying bald eagles and heron rookery, sampled aquatic vegetation and gained training in silviculture. He has also been a part of the Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP) with the USFWS to gain experience. Bollinger plans to continue his education with a master’s degree in a natural resources field and hopes to become a natural resource biologist.

Bollinger’s FFA chapter advisors are Christine Jumback and Chris Ritscher. His parents are Allen and Dorothy Bollinger.

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