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Schardt’s positive attitude is apparent in the classroom, in the office and in the field, and in any setting, he is known to punctuate his speech with a trademark exclamation of “Good, Good, Good!” Schardt concludes his class lessons and his conversations by making the peace sign and encouraging you to“Rock ‘n’ Roll.” His bushy hair, clogs and neckties featuring Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin cover art, illustrate his hippy past and love of all things rock.

“Larry’s real down-to-earth,” Matt Eisel says, a Penn State forest science student taking Schardt’s course. “In his class you can hope to learn all kinds of conservation practices from soils to forestry. Plus, he’s just a great guy.”

Schardt spends his Tuesday and Thursday afternoons mentoring young conservationists at Penn State’s University Park campus. His class, listed in the course catalog as Soils 422, is called Natural Resources, Conservation and Community.

“The course has changed a lot over the years,” Schardt says. “I changed it from soils conservation to natural resources and added the community part. You can’t separate the resources from the rest of our lives. It’s all interconnected.”

Schardt has been teaching for 16 years at Penn State, where he once studied forestry, soil science and outreach education. He’s given many of his students a start where he spends the rest of his week – at Community Partnerships, an organization in Lewistown, Pa. – which has hosted hundreds of interns from Schardt's class.

“I really enjoy working with these great students, and I try to give them a chance to work in the real world, well, my version of the real world,” he says with a waggle of his eyebrows. “It may not actually match other people’s.”

Community Partnerships for Resource Conservation and Development is a non-profit that seeks to support sustainable agriculture, natural resources, the arts and community resources in Pennsylvania’s central region. Schardt helped organize Partnerships in 1992 as an outreach group to serve farmers in the mid-state area. Over the years, he sought volunteers, grants and government funds to hire five more employees and expand the organization’s services to also support cultural and business enterprises in the region’s towns. His philosophy has always been that thriving urban centers ensure the conservation of surrounding rural areas, and both parts of the landscape can benefit one another.

Schardt’s history in conservation dates back to his youth during what he calls “the tail-end of the hippie era.” And like most aspects of his life, he can relate his work to the songs of the day. Growing up in the Pittsburgh suburbs, he was the oldest of nine children of a hard-working mother, and a father who had problems with alcohol and a violent temper. For Schardt, rock music became part resistance against “the establishment,” part inspiration for maintaining his positive energy.

“During that time, all our music and our dreams were about compassion, and love, and making the world a better place,” Schardt says. “To this day, my personal mission statement is to always ‘plant seeds of love and happiness.’ ”

Schardt says he got a break in 1978 when a conservationist with the USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service took a chance on a long-haired, bell-bottom-wearing kid who was enthusiastic about all things environmental and musical. Hired by NRCS as a trainee while finishing college, Schardt would spend the next decade helping farmers in western and central Pennsylvania, serving as a soil conservationist and later, district conservationist for several local offices. A promotion in 1991 sent him to the agency’s Virgin Islands office, where he began his work as a Resource Conservation and
Development (RC&D) regional coordinator.

When he returned stateside a year later, the NRCS tasked Schardt to be RC&D coordinator for Pennsylvania’s mid-state region, which continues to operate from Lewistown, Pa. While his salary was, and is, provided by the federal NRCS agency, Schardt’s responsibilities expanded to serving other community needs in addition the natural resources. He’s done just that.

Today, Community Partnerships serves as a supporter of conservation projects as well as cultural music festivals, fine arts programs, and folk arts, which bring together people’s agricultural and art talents.

The mix reflects Schardt’s interest in the arts and of course, music. His music collection abounds with classics from Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and the Moody Blues, and his office mates have been regaled with many a story of the concerts he’s attended since his youth. Schardt says years ago, he “used to pretend he could sing.” He occasionally played guitar and sang lead vocals for local rock bands in college, even having some fun singing for a disco group – that is, until he realized they took their music seriously. For Schardt, rock and roll was and still is, the music that matters most.

Today, Schardt is focusing his artistry on writing. He has turned years of providing motivational speaking into developing a book titled, “The Magic In Every Moment.” He’s also turned his pen to fiction, submitting short stories to writing contests and even trying his hand at a romance novel.

Those who know Schardt realize it’s all part of the same mission, from a person who lives his life with the intention of giving to the world.

Larry's Greatest Hits Collection

Check out Schardt's favorite rock albums in this video.

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For more multimedia projects by Amanda Yeager, view her portfolio.

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