DELAWARE — In one of the final essays of his career, Dr. Lynn Elfner offered young scientists a blunt piece of advice: “Do not accept mediocrity from anyone, especially yourself.”
His own life was anything but mediocre.
Elfner, a longtime Delaware resident who died May 3 at age 81, spent more than four decades expanding science education across Ohio — opening doors for students, supporting teachers and helping generations of young researchers see themselves as scientists.
Over the course of his career, Elfner raised millions of dollars for STEM education, oversaw 37 State Science Days, championed opportunities for women in science and served as a board member and co-chair of the grants committee of The Ohio 4-H Foundation.
He was also a middle school science teacher, executive director of the Ohio Academy of Science and former editor of The Ohio Journal of Science.
While he may not have been a household name in Delaware, those in Ohio’s science education community certainly knew Elfner’s significance.
“He was Mr. Ohio Science Fairs,” said Margaret Duber Snyder, Ph.D.
Snyder said many of Ohio’s leading women scientists can trace part of their success to opportunities Elfner helped create through the Ohio Academy of Science’s Women in Science program.
She also credited his leadership in developing nationally-recognized guidance for the ethical use of animals and human subjects in student science research, work that became a model for science educators.
Yet Snyder said Elfner rarely sought recognition for his own ideas.
“He was quiet and often planted seeds so that others would think a proposal was their suggestion,” she said. “He never took credit for his efforts.”
Personal story
Elfner grew up in DeGraff, Ohio, where he spent most of his childhood exploring the world around him.
He attributed the start of his love for science to growing up on a farm, playing in the creek, foraging and being in 4-H Conservation Club from sixth grade throughout high school.
Eventually he left DeGraff to attend The Ohio State University as a zoology major, where he met his wife of 57 years, Barbara “Sue” Pierson-Elfner.
They married in Westerville and came to settle down in Delaware, where they raised three children and retired.
“He loved kids and knew that they could be so much more if they just had the opportunity. And he gave them that opportunity, especially in rural areas,” said Angy Zalenski, Elfner’s daughter.
That belief guided nearly every step of his career.
Professional accomplishments
Elfner’s first science-related job was as a conservation teacher at 4-H Camp Palmer in Fulton County where he worked every summer during college, teaching about 5,000 students.
He later convinced the General Assembly to provide $700,000 for a joint venture between the Ohio Academy of Science and 4-H in 2008, according to an article by Ohio 4-H.
The funding helped create nine new STEM 4-H clubs.
Elfner said the teacher gig “parlayed” into a three-year teaching stint at Mount Orab Middle School before he returned to OSU for a master’s degree in botany.
“He gave science teachers an opportunity to do so much more than be in the classroom, and opportunity for the kids to spread their wings and have a better life,” Zalenski said.
After that, Elfner served as executive director of The Ohio Environmental Council where he focused on preventing the construction of unnecessary dams and channelization of streams, and helped preserve Cedar Bog.
In the role he helped establish Rivers Unlimited, now the Nation’s oldest river preservation group, formed in 1972, according to its website.
He began his career as CEO of The Ohio Academy of Science in 1975. He promoted collaboration with state agencies, businesses and educators to increase science education initiatives and funding.
Some of his biggest accomplishments there were implementing the Environmental Science Scholarship program and expanding State Science Day and Believe in Ohio.
Zalenski said someone told her brother at Elfner’s celebration of life on June 25 that not everyone liked Elfner, because he made people to do the right thing.
“He held you to a higher standard,” she said.
After Elfner retired from his more than 40-year-career at The Ohio Academy of Science in 2015, the editors invited him to share his thoughts about his work.
He did so in a piece titled, “Letter to a Young Scientist.”
“Immerse yourself as young as possible in science that interests you. Research shows it will get under your skin,” he wrote.
“Be curious, skeptical and work to discover something new. Apply science daily, especially to understand the weather. Be persistent.
“Join organizations like 4-H, FFA and The Ohio Academy of Science that connect you with science professionals. Learn to write well. Take a lot more mathematics than I did.
“Finally, and most importantly, do not accept mediocrity from anyone, especially yourself.”
