News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5056 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE APRIL 10, 2008

Amber Davis Collins

COLLINS NAMED OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUM AT HOMECOMING

TIFTON- Amber Davis Collins of Smyrna is the recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumnus for the 2008 Homecoming at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

After Collins attended ABAC, she went on to earn her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Ag Education and a Certificate of International Agriculture from the University of Georgia.

Currently she works as a Life Scientist in the Pesticides Management Section of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta. She works with Latino farm worker issues, pesticide inspector training, and is a project officer for the state of North Carolina.

Collins served in the Peace Corps from 2002 – 2004, working in Honduras. Her efforts focused on working with local women’s groups to improve nutrition and reduce infant mortality rates through family gardens and crop diversification. Her experiences are recorded in the book: “A Life Inspired: Tales of Peace Corps Service.”

In 2006, President George W. Bush presented Amber with the President's Volunteer Service Award for her work with the Peace Corps, Hurricane Katrina response, and the Cool Girls, Inc.

Among many recognitions and awards, she earned a bronze medal from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 and an Environmental Justice Award in 2007.

Last year she founded the “San Pedro de Tutule” Scholarship, named after her Peace Corps site in Honduras, for Latino students. This newly funded scholarship will be given as a part of the ABAC Foundation awards each spring with a preference given to farm workers or family members of farm workers. She is married to Scott Collins and they live in Smyrna.

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