ACA Volunteer of the Year

Our "Joe Pina Volunteer of the Year Award" is presented to an excellent volunteer every year! This year our shout out goes to Bruce Bodson! 

Bruce Bodson has been an instrumental force in establishing paddle trails throughout Texas, but his work for Bayou Land Conservancy and other local nonprofits, such as the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, have helped steer Houstonians towards embracing outdoor recreation. Bruce regularly makes the trek across Houston to work with Bayou Land Conservancy’s No Child Left Inside environmental education program, where he has served as a paddle guide for hundreds of high school and middle school students. 

Besides his role as an expert paddler, Bruce is an environmental attorney who has served on the board of Bayou Land Conservancy for 9 years. Bruce is chairman of the Lands Committee, and currently holds the officer position of Vice President. He is also a board member of the Bayou Preservation Association and Christmas Bay Foundation, and has previously served on the board of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory. But wait, there's more! Bruce is a Lecturer and Professor at Texas A&M University – Galveston, where he teaches Environmental Impact Analysis and Environmental Policy at the graduate student level. Bruce has won or placed in a multitude of long-distance kayak races, where he regularly defeats people half his age.

Way to go Bruce! Thank you for all that you do, you are making the world a better place to paddle in. 

If you would like more information on our ACA National Awards, please follow this link: www.americancanoe.org/Awards