Candie Wilderman

Candie Wilderman was born in Philadelphia in 1946. Her interests in the natural world began at a very early age, especially in the fields of biology and geology. These interests led her to become an accomplished educator, conservationist and researcher. She earned her B.S. in geology from Tufts University and her M.A. in geology from Harvard University. She then landed a part-time position in the Geology lab at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA in 1974, and within a year began teaching an environmental science course in the classroom. Shortly after beginning to teach, she took a leave of absence from the college and went on to earn her Ph.D. in geography and environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Wilderman developed and became chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Dickinson College in 1981 and a few years later, founded the non-profit organization, Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM), which partnered with Dickinson College. ALLARM offers technical assistance to community watershed groups throughout Pennsylvania, and is one of her greatest environmental education and conservation achievements. Her passion for protecting the Chesapeake Bay and the surrounding watersheds is shared by the volunteers and her students. In 1991, she received the Conservation Educator of the Year Award from the National Wildlife Federation.

Dedicated to teaching and research, Candi collaborated on many research journals and publications with fellow professors and students. She helped develop the LUCE program at Dickinson with Michael Heiman, which provided students with an opportunity to incorporate watershed-based field experience with classroom instruction. The course offered students a close look at watershed issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay and the Mississippi River Basin in the coastal region of Louisiana.

In 2012, Wilderman accepted a phased retirement incentive offered by Dickinson, and gradually reduced her workload over the following three years, officially retiring in 2015. She is also involved in many organizations, including the Sierra Club, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.

Photo source: Stream of Consciousness, 2014 (ALLARM) (http://www.dickinson.edu/download/downloads/id/4545/stream_of_consciousness)