Vallentyne outreach award recognizes Pranas Pranckevicius

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2016

Contact: Christine Manninen, Communications & Outreach Committee Co-chair, commchair@iaglr.org

Guelph, Ontario — The International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) posthumously awarded its highest outreach honor Thursday to Pranas Pranckevicius, an influential regional communicator and technical convenor for more than 30 years with the U.S. EPA Great LakesNational Program Office. Pranckevicius was tragically lost in a cycling accident in 2015.

Pranckevicius was recognized with the John R. (Jack) Vallentyne Award at IAGLR’s 59th annual conference, held in Guelph, Ontario. His sister, Irene Barauskas, was present to accept the award.

The award goes to those individuals or groups who have contributed substantially to educating the public and informing policymakers about Great Lakes issues, leading to protection and restoration of the great lakes of the world. The award is named after the late Vallentyne, a distinguished scientist who dedicated decades of work to education and outreach.

Pranckevicius had a vision for using technology and communications to keep Great Lakes partners involved in important decisionmaking. In the early 1990s, he was a key regional partner in development of the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN). Pranckevicius served on the GLIN Advisory Board for many years, providing the creative vision and leadership that has led to the valuable asset that GLIN is today.

Pranckevicius was also integral to the success of the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC), which provided a forum for the exchange of information on the ecological condition of the Great Lakes and surrounding lands. He saw the incredible potential for making environmental information available online and was a leader in introducing the Great Lakes community to what was possible and how to navigate this new world.

Pranckevicius was admired by his colleagues, inspiring wide respect and abiding affection.

According to U.S. EPA GLNPO Director Chris Korleski, Pranckevicius was a joy to work with, passionate about his work and skilled at his job. “I believe that the Great Lakes community greatly benefited from his commitment to making science and education more accessible,” Korleski said.

“No matter how difficult the communications problem, Pranas could always figure out the most practical strategy to build new communications systems or fix old ones,” said Norm Grannemann, Great Lakes program coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey. “His help in implementing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative should be recognized; but, even more importantly, so too should the kind and thoughtful way he treated everyone in carrying out his work.”

“There is no one who had a deeper commitment to public service and environmental education than Pranas,” said IAGLR Board Member Beth Hinchey-Malloy, a long-time colleague of Pranckevicius at U.S. EPA-GLNPO.

A unifying thread running through Pranckevicius’s personal and professional life was altruistic service to others. He was the U.S.-born son of immigrants from Lithuania and was immensely proud of his heritage. Pranckevicius devoted much of his personal time and energy to Camp Dainava in southeast Michigan, aimed at preserving Lithuania’s culture and instilling admirable values of education, hard work, solidarity, and social justice in our youth.