GCC forestry instructor inducted into Honor Academy

HOUGHTON — Gogebic Community College forestry instructor Bill Perkis was inducted into Michigan Technological University’s College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Honor Academy on Aug. 5.

The ceremony was held in the atrium of the Noblet Forestry and Wood Products Building on the MTU campus during the alumni reunion. Many of his fellow Huskies were on hand to help celebrate this occasion, according to a press release from GCC.

The College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Honor Academy was established in 1995, and includes individuals who have had distinguished careers, and have advanced the status of CFRES, Michigan Tech, and the natural world, according to the release.

Perkis earned a Master of Science in forestry from MTU and started work mapping soils with the consulting firm SALUT in Nevada, Wyoming, California and Borneo. He then went on to the Natural Resource Conservation Service working on, and then leading, soil survey projects in Florida and Michigan. While in Gaylord, he was integral in the design and establishment of the Conservation Demonstration Gardens which still thrive 25 years later, according to the release.

In “retirement,” after finishing a soil survey project in Gogebic County, he developed GCC’s forestry technology degree program. The program prepares students to be ready to work with a two-year associate degree or have the ability to transfer to MTU or another school to complete a four-year degree, said the release, adding, “He works tirelessly to mentor upcoming forestry students.”

Perkis also volunteers locally with the Knights of Columbus and Boy Scouts.

He lives In Ironwood with his wife, Betty, who is also a graduate from Michigan Tech’s forestry program.