By ABIGAIL SWANSON, College Relations
CHADRON – Mark Allen Brohman, Executive Director of the Wachiska Audubon Society and former Executive Director for the Nebraska Environmental Trust, received Chadron State College’s Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA) during Homecoming Oct. 1.
Also recognized at Homecoming were fellow DAA honoree Dora Olivares, and Distinguished Young Alumni award Dr Nisha Durand, Ryan Hieb, and Dr TJ Thomson (in absentia)/
Family Tree Awards were conferred upon the Guzman and Brown families.
DAA recipients must have attended CSC for at least two years and demonstrated exceptional service to the college or distinguished themselves in their career or community through volunteer efforts.
During his undergraduate studies, Brohman studied Biology, Chemistry, and Math. He worked as a lab director and student researcher at CSC before graduating in 1985.
He continued his education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, earning a Juris Doctorate law degree in 1990, and a master’s in forestry, fisheries, and wildlife in 1991.
After graduating, he worked as a Wetlands Biologist for the Nebraska Department of Transportation from 1991 to 1993 and an Environmental Analyst Supervisor for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission from 1993 to 1998.
Continuing his work with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Brohman worked as an Administrator of the Administrative Division from 1998 to 2006. He put his legal background to work through lobbying for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and being a liaison with the Nebraska Attorney General’s office and the Governor’s Policy and Research Office.
For 15 years, he served as the Executive Director for the Nebraska Environmental Trust managing grants, monitoring properties, and collaborating with natural resource, conservation, and education groups, as well as state and local entities across Nebraska. He also worked with the Platte River Basin Environments for numerous land acquisitions along the North Platte River leading to a still growing expansion of wildlands to free public access.
His current duties as Executive Director of the Wachiska Audubon Society include overseeing the care for about 1,000 acres of southeast Nebraska grassland and providing education on the natural resources of Nebraska. Additionally, he has served as a biological consultant for the Minton Environmental Consultants in Dexter, Missouri, since 2016.
Brohman received several honors and awards including the 2007 Outstanding Wildlife Conservationist of the Year from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasants Forever and the 2020 Nebraska Wetland Partnership Award from Ducks Unlimited.
He is a board member of Friends of Whitehall Mansion, current secretary and board member of Friends of the Niobrara River, Inc., current secretary and board member of Back to the River, Inc., and a Trustee of the Chadron State Foundation.
Brohman and his wife of 35 years, Anessa, live in Lincoln. She works for Lincoln Public Schools. They have one daughter, Miranda, who has an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology and Ecology and is in her second year of graduate school studying Marine Biology at Nova Southeastern in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.