(Estherville, Iowa) Drew Howing received the 2022 Jim Hall Outstanding Alumni Award at the Spring 2022 Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 13. The Iowa Lakes Community College Alumni and Friends Association considers Iowa Lakes graduates for this distinguished award who exemplify outstanding support of the community, business, and service clubs while serving as positive role models.
Diane Nelsen, representing the Alumni and Friends Association, presented the award memorializing Jim Hall, a 1968 Iowa Lakes graduate, former Iowa Lakes assistant football coach, and strong supporter of the College. Established in 1992, the Jim Hall Outstanding Alumni Award is awarded annually to a deserving Iowa Lakes graduate.
Howing, a 2012 graduate of the Environmental Studies program, is married to Serena (Lyle) Howing, an Iowa Lakes graduate with an Associate Degree in Nursing. They have two children, two-year-old Alden and six-month-old Brooks.
Upon graduation in 2012, Howing completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fish and Wildlife Sciences at South Dakota State University. He subsequently traveled the Northwestern United States, studying mountain lions, elk, deer, wolves, rattlesnakes, river otters, and sharp-tailed grouse. His assistance in live-trapping beavers in the mountains of Washington state helped naturalists understand how they may use them to reduce the impact of droughts by capturing snowmelt in alpine environments.
Howing became program coordinator for the Environmental Studies program at Iowa Lakes in 2016. After taking the helm, he revised programming to include a curriculum for the Water Quality Technician program that has since been emulated across Iowa, producing graduates in the water treatment and processing field. Additionally, Howing earned his Master of Science Degree in Land Resources and Environmental Science through Montana State University in the fall of 2022. He completed his Master’s research studying Blanding’s turtles, a threatened species in Iowa.
Howing is active in several community organizations that benefit parks, habitats, and the environment. He enthusiastically promotes awareness through outreach activities such as hunting, birding, fishing, trapping, and other outdoor stewardship. Additionally, he volunteers in his church and is active in the growth of the Laker Life group at Iowa Lakes.
