Biography

Richard Kappel is an Environmental Management Instructor at The Civil Engineer School, Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. His primary teaching and consulting expertise is on hazardous waste management, solid waste management, pollution prevention, and recycling.

Before entering public service, Mr. Kappel taught high school science for 15 years. He taught Environmental Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Mr. Kappel wrote the curriculum and created the environmental science class. He has also taught various classes through Bowling Green State University (Environmental Science 101 and Canadian Wilderness).

Before Mr. Kappel became a teacher he conducted Grey Bat research for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in Northwest Georgia. He studied grey bat roosting and foraging activity through trapping and fitting bats with radio-telemetry devices and following them using trucks and helicopters. This research was used to write his master’s thesis and various other papers associated with the research.

In college he worked for BGSU recycling. Mr. Kappel started out collecting material from customers and eventually became the assistant coordinator. He was an active participant and leader with campus environmental organizations.

EDUCATION

1996 Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, Bowling Green State University, Ohio

1998 Master of Science in Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Ohio

1998 State of Ohio Teaching Certificate, Grades 6-12, Biological Science; Physical Science

CAREER CHRONOLOGY

August 1998-June 2000, High School Science Teacher, Elida High School, Elida, Ohio August 2000-June 2001, High School Science Teacher, Northridge High School, Northridge, Ohio August 2002-June 2015, High School Science Teacher, Kettering Fairmont High School, Kettering, Ohio August 2015-Current, Environmental Management Instructor, Air Force Institute of Technology, WPAFB, Ohio

PUBLICATIONS

Transforming learning with virtual reality, Air Force Civil Engineer, Vol. 26, Summer 2018

Grey Bat Conservation: The Good and the Bad, National Speleological Society News, March 1998