Warnock recieves Sul Ross outstanding teaching award a second time

Dr. Bonnie Warnock receives Outstanding Teaching Award from Sul Ross President Dr. Bill Kibler.

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Sul Ross Press Release

By Steve Lang,

News and Publications

For the second time in six years, Dr. Bonnie Warnock, has received Sul Ross State University’s Outstanding Teaching Award.

Warnock, professor of Natural Resource Management and the Clint Josey Endowed Chair for Sustainable Ranch Management, joins Professor Emeritus Wayne Sheehan as the only two-time recipient in the 35-year history of the award. She was honored for her achievements Wednesday (Sept. 27) during a ceremony in the Morgan University Center. Sul Ross President Dr. Bill Kibler presented the award.

Kibler cited Warnock for her achievements in and out of the classroom, noting “she is widely recognized as an engaged, talented and caring teacher.”

A member of the Sul Ross faculty since 2001, Warnock has also been cited by the American Association of State Schools and Colleges of Agriculture and Renewable Resources, the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture and the Texas Water Conservation Districts for outstanding contributions to teaching.

“I am really honored to receive this award again,” she said. “To me teaching at Sul Ross is my dream job, and what really keeps me loving what I do is my students, particularly through the energy and excitement they bring to the classroom.”

Warnock also ranches with her husband, Seth, near Marathon. Her family has been active in ranching near Marathon and Sanderson since the 1890s, and she brings her practical experience into the classroom.

“I try to give a lot of real examples and use outdoor activities to get my students engaged in the field,” she said. “I am active in ranching and I try to take theoretical information and tie it into real-life practices.”

After attending Texas Tech in 1992-93, Warnock enrolled at Sul Ross. She received a B.S. in Range Management in 1995, graduating summa cum laude, then received her M.S. in Range and Wildlife Management in 1997. She joined the Sul Ross faculty as a visiting lecturer in January 2001. She was hired full-time as a lecturer later that year, then received her Ph.D. in Soil Science in 2003 from Texas A&M University and was promoted to assistant professor. Warnock was promoted to associate professor in 2008 and named department chair. She was promoted to full professor in 2013.

At Sul Ross, she teaches undergraduate classes in soils, range ecology, fire ecology, watershed management, habitat management, range inventory and plant identification, and most recently, sustainable ranch management. Warnock also teaches graduate classes in restoration ecology and field ecology.

In addition to teaching and ranching, Warnock, her husband, and sister Susan Foster opened a new wool and fiber mill, Marathon Basin Wool. The mill will provide a local outlet for Texas sheep producers, and “when you teach sustainable ranch management, you practice sustainable ranch management,” she said. “Economic development is a significant part of the (sustainable ranch management) process.”

“This (award) is really gratifying for me. As a teacher, I am still learning, and I continue to try new approaches in the classroom. I continue to focus on experiential learning, and hopefully, I will still be having a great time years five from now.”

Previous recipients of the Outstanding Teaching Award since 1983 include: Metha Sprinkle (Education); Ernest Reesing (Range Animal Science); William L. Beatty (Business Administration); David L. Cockrum (Psychology); Jimmy D. Case (Political Science); Robie Golden (Mathematics); Bob Pannell (Education); Wayne Sheehan (History); Rex Wilson (Music); George Bradley (Communications and Theatre); Greg Schwab (Communications and Theatre); Daniel Vrudny (Industrial Technology); Keith West (Communications and Theatre); Ellen Boyd (Music); Abelardo Baeza (English and Spanish); Ray Beaulieu (Mathematics); Mark Saka (History); Patti Trietsch (Education); Jeff Pendergraft (Animal Science); Barbara Tyler (Education); Jesus Tafoya (Spanish); Dona Roman (Communication/Theatre); Sheehan; Martin Terry (Biology); Carol Fairlie (Art); Louis Harveson (Natural Resource Management); Sharon Hileman (Languages and Literature); Christopher Ritzi (Biology). Warnock; Amy Moreland (Political Science); Joseph Velasco (Communication); Robert Hunter (Criminal Justice); and Christopher Estepp (Animal Science).

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