John Snyder is an avid outdoorsman and natural historian. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education in 1982 from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and his Master of Science degree in Education in 1993 from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. He began his teaching career in Dallas, Texas, thirty-seven years ago teaching fourth and fifth grade students for four years in the Dallas Independent School District. He then taught two years of fifth and sixth grade special education in Berlin, New Hampshire. In 1989, he moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, and taught two years of fifth grade.

He was selected for the Elementary Math and Science "Excellence in Teaching Award" from Exxon Corporation in 1991. Also, in 1991, he earned his secondary certification in Biology and Earth Science. He spent seven years teaching Earth Science at Robert Driscoll Middle School where he served as the science department chairperson and was selected as their Teacher of the Year" three times. John was instrumental in the writing of the district's academic and performance standards in science. In 1998, he was selected as the Corpus Christi Independent School District's secondary "Teacher of the Year". He was also the Region II Education Service Center "Teacher of the Year" for 1998-1999. John's hobbies include fossil and mineral collecting, stargazing, canoeing, flint knapping, and photography.

Mr. Snyder is now employed by a collaborative made of the Victoria Independent School District and the INVISTA chemical manufacturing company as the resident Wetland Educator at INVISTA's 53 acre constructed wetland located on site at the Victoria, Texas, plant.

John Snyder has dedicated the past twenty-two years to developing and presenting a comprehensive wetlands education program to students from grade 4-college. We believe that Mr. Snyder is the first full time educator located at an industrial wetland. As a result, John has created an education encounter program that encompasses the treatment benefits of the wetland along with the inherent natural benefits of a wetland. The 4th-12th and beyond program is called the Wetland Environmental Science Education Encounter or (WE SEE). He has presented this program to students and educators with an enthusiastic, hands-on approach that captures the student's interest and leads to many return visits by both teachers and students.

As of June 2020, over 76,800 students have participated in the Victoria, Plant's WE SEE program. Located in the heart of the plant's constructed wetland, the program is housed at a state-of-the-art education center and offers a wide variety of science education learning opportunities to area schools. Because the WE SEE curriculum is in direct correlation with the State of Texas science standards, each encounter helps area teachers meet the state standards, most notably the 40% student hands-on science requirement.

John has shared his curriculum with visiting educators and made presentations at national and international conferences. His education program has received awards from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF). In addition to student visits, many municipalities and industry leaders have come to Victoria from throughout the United States to observe the success of Mr. Snyder's program. By sharing his program at national and international conferences, John has encouraged others to follow in his footsteps.

On a local level, the wetland education program is viewed as an extremely successful effort at combining industry and community efforts to maximize the benefit of the treatment wetland. Students and teachers are enthusiastic about their educational encounters and share that enthusiasm throughout the community. The science programs at local schools (and those up to 275 miles away) benefit from the hands on experience that profoundly impacts students.

You can contact John Snyder at (361) 652-5451 call or text or send an email to wetlandspecialist@gmail.com.

His mailing address is:

Victoria Independent School District
John Snyder - Wetland Science Specialist
102 Profit Drive
P.O. Box 1759
Victoria, Texas 77902