Dena Dickerson, an environmental biologist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, has been named 2010 Conservationist of the Year by the Mississippi Wildlife Federation.

Dickerson, who resides in Clinton, is the fifth woman to receive the award since its inception in 1960. She has volunteered with MWF for the past five years.

Dickerson assisted with recovery after the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and helped write proposals for long-term evaluations of sea turtle movement. In 2007, she was part of a team that identified ways to protect sea turtles at the world’s largest deepwater shipping port in the world, at Dhamra, India, a news release from ERDC said.

A Clinton High School graduate and holder of a master’s degree in environmental biology from Mississippi College, Dickerson manages a 20-acre farm in Clinton that provides habitat for frogs, spotted salamanders, snakes, horses and rescued dogs.