A life spent researching mollusks and microbiology might have suited Rosina Bierbaum just fine. We’ll never know. A timely series of interventions redirected her ambitions from marine biology to the chaotic intersection of politics, science and public policy. In that arena—working for employers as lofty as the President of the United States, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and the University of Michigan—Bierbaum has carved out a definitive role in shaping public policy and training young people to make positive impacts on resource protection.

Blair Miller’s life is a contact sport. He’s scrapped with what he describes as the “good old boy network” in rural Vermontville Township, where he was elected to the township board before getting broomed in a recall election. He learned to fly planes in three weeks—insisting on landing at Chicago’s Midway Airport during training because: “If I’m going to fly, I’m going to learn how to do it in the busiest place.” And in response to a running dispute with the University of Michigan, Miller once mowed a massive block “M”—framed by a circle with a line slashed through it—in the fallow field outside his home. Private planes would fly by to see the oversized protest.

Please join us on June 20 at the Ann Arbor City Club to celebrate the vision and achievements of two outstanding environmental champions! We are proud to honor Rosina Bierbaum with this year’s Helen and William Milliken Distinguished Service Award. Blair Miller, nominated by the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, will receive the 2012 Petoskey Prize for Environmental Leadership.