2008 Woodie Awards
USA professor to speak at commencement
T.R. Risner
Staff Reporter
Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: News
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Sebastian, who recently received recognition from the USA Foundation for his service, has been a professor at USA for 40 years and was the former chair of the department of earth sciences. He was awarded the Arts and Sciences Teachers Excellence Award for the 2006-2007 academic year and the Arts and Sciences Service Award in 2007.
Over the summer, Sebastian and other geography professors took part in the Odyssey Program where they took a group of senior citizens around Mobile, teaching them about the geography of the city. They left the campus in the morning, riding The Wave around town and ate lunch at different places throughout the city.
Over the past couple of years, Sebastian has also helped the Alabama Geography Alliance by going around to local schools and teaching elementary teachers how to teach students about geography. Later in the year those elementary teachers invited Sebastian back to the school to talk with the children. Dr. Sebastian would take a box of funny-looking hats to show the kids all the different hats a geographer has to wear. From a Smokey the Bear hat to a jester's hat used to talk about Mardi Gras, Sebastian used entertainment to help the kids better understand geography.
Sebastian has also helped Alabama Rehabilitation Services by teaching and guiding possible college students who have had a tougher time making it in life. Sebastian takes part in the college preparation program, which teaches the rehabilitated youngsters how to study, take notes and other college tips. "It's great to see those students come to class in the fall after the summer rehabilitation program was a success," Sebastian said.
Before coming to South Alabama, Sebastian was a national park ranger at the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. In the fall of 1967, Sebastian got tired of having no one to talk to, so he headed for Mobile. The geographer loves to talk to people and "Up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I got tired of talking to my black labrador all day," Sebastian said.
His successor as the chair of the earth sciences department, Dr. Mimi Fearn said, "Dr. Sebastian is one of the main reasons I decided to become a geographer." In the summer of 1985, Fearn took one of Sebastian's classes, which was a trip to the Big Bend area. Sebastian allowed his students to eat breakfast, but they were only allowed to eat trail mix for the rest of the day, so they would have plenty of room for dinner that night. After working all day long, Dr. Sebastian spent the last few hours every night, cooking the group a huge dinner.
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