Greene County Commissioner Pam Snyder received an honorary bachelor of arts degree from Waynesburg University.

She was recognized for, among other things, "providing the citizens of Greene County with a living and working environment that is both safe and secure."

• Jack Piatt, of Washington, developer of the Piatt Place in Downtown Pittsburgh, received the Person of Vision Award recently from the Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh, Homestead. He also is the creator of Southpointe.

The award is presented annually "to a leader whose vision brings energy and vibrancy to the region."

• The Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs recently presented Devin DeMario, a 2007 California University of Pennsylvania graduate, with the John F. Laudadio Conservation Leadership Award.

Ms. DeMario, 22, attended the Westmoreland County Sportsmen's League's Junior Conservation Leadership School when she was 15 years old. She received a degree in fisheries and wildlife biology last spring.

She has obtained her Hunter-Trapper Education Instructor and Cable Restraint Instructor certificates and is an advisory committee member on the board of environmental education for the Western Pennsylvania Conservation District.

Ms. DeMario interned with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and is working for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in the Northwest Region as a biologist aide.

The award is presented to youth in recognition and appreciation of their continued commitment to natural resources. The Laudadio Award is named in memory of the late John F. Laudadio of Westmoreland County, who was a past federation president.

• Holly Williams, a senior at California University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh's College Chemistry Award, which is presented to "an outstanding chemistry student at Cal U and is based on grade-point average and accomplishments of the student."

She received a $300 cash award, and her name will be added to a plaque in the Louis L. Manderino Library that honors all of the former recipients.

Also, a $200 donation was made to the library for the purchase of chemistry books, which will bear a plate on the inside cover listing the donor's name.

• Belinda Staffieri, of Belle Vernon, a credit clerk at Monongahela Valley Hospital, has received the 36th Edward J. Protin Memorial Award for her "strong commitment to work and the goals and ideals of the health care system."

It's one of the hospital's most prestigious honors.

Her career at Monongahela Valley Hospital spans more than 30 years.

The Protin Award was established in 1981 to perpetuate the memory of the late Edward J. Protin, of Charleroi, former president of the hospital's board of trustees and a longtime community leader in the mid-Monongahela Valley.

She joins this list of winners dating back to 1981:

Dana Green, Thomas Wilson, Douglas Prentice, Louis J. Panza Jr., Rayna Culbusky, Tammie Wehrle, Ron Paglia, Frank Guzur, Shirley M. Zippay, Charles Nicholls, Deborah S. Castner, Doloris Platter, Paula L. Ducoeur, Frances Lucas, Patty Hormell, Harry L. DuJordan Jr., Margaret Scheponik, Geno J. DiBagno, Harry Ellis White, Anthony M. Lombardi, Patricia O'Donnell, Joseph J. Pallone, Florence Rossomme, Harry Cowell, William J. Rongaus, Gloria MacFarlane, Eugene W. Gibbons.

• Bower Hill Elementary teacher Robert DiBiase will represent the Peters Township School District July 27-31 at the 2008 Keystone Technology Integrators Summit at Bucknell University.

Selected from more than 600 nominations, Mr. DiBiase of North Huntington, will learn strategies and skills for introducing technology into the classroom and will collaborate with other educators from across the state to share ideas about how they are using technology.

Among the technologies incorporated into Mr. DiBiase's Spanish classroom are the SmartBoard, the interactive "clickers," and he also maintains a BlackBoard Web site where his students can log on and review anything they have learned by either watching movies he has made, reviewing podcasts, or watching interactive PowerPoint presentations to help them correctly pronounce the Spanish vocabulary.