Boone County Welcomes a New Conservation Educator to the Classroom

Boone County’s outdoor-education roster has a new name on it. J.R. Royston started September 1 as the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Conservation Educator for the county, according to an MDC newsroom announcement.

Royston isn’t new to either classrooms or conservation work. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Central Methodist University and a master’s degree in secondary administration from William Woods University. Along the way he’s worked as an admissions representative at State Technical College of Missouri in Linn, taught science for Jefferson City Public Schools and Harrisburg R-VIII schools, and most recently served as a resource management technician for MDC — the same agency that has now hired him into this new role.

In the position, Royston will work with Boone County teachers to bring conservation programming into their classrooms, with a particular focus on the Boone County Nature School. MDC quoted him saying the job lets him “bring outdoor experiences to the residents of Boone County,” pairing his years in front of a classroom with his hands-on resource-management background.

It’s a small hire in the scheme of state government, but a meaningful one for local schools: Royston is now the person coordinating MDC’s conservation programming reaching Boone County classrooms, from field trips to in-class lessons built around the county’s rivers, woods, and wildlife. Teachers or parents wanting to connect a class with MDC’s programming can reach him directly at jr.royston@mdc.mo.gov.

For a river town like Rocheport, sitting right along one of the state’s richest conservation corridors, having a dedicated local educator to call is worth knowing about — whether that’s a school field trip to the river bluffs or a nature-school program down the road.