The Hinote Award was presented to Parr during the annual SAMAB meeting in Asheville, N.C., in recognition of her sustained personal dedication in promoting the objectives of the program.
Parr was recognized for her commitment to the SAMAB program. Her efforts helped the Oak Ridge environmental research facility to be designated an international biosphere preserve in 1989, making it a part of the Southern Appalachian Man and Biosphere unit. She was also recognized for her promotion of stewardship and ecosystem management at the Oak Ridge Reservation. ORNL is responsible for most of the undeveloped area of the reservation.
The SAMAB program promotes environmental health, stewardship and sustainable development of natural, cultural and economic resources in the Southern Appalachians. The organization also encourages community-based solutions to critical regional issues through cooperation among partners, information gathering and sharing, integrated assessments and demonstration projects.
Parr is currently president of the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council and is a past-president of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, and is a member of the 2003 East Tennessee Regional Leadership class. Parr joined ORNL in 1974. She received a bachelor's degree in biology from Tennessee Wesleyan College and a master's degree in ecology from the University of Tennessee.
She and her husband Ron -- who works for ORNL's Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate -- have two children, Bobby and Elizabeth.
ORNL is a multiprogram science and technology laboratory managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.