MANCHESTER, Ky. (AP) - The National Weather Service is recognizing an Eastern Kentucky University employee who has voluntarily contributed weather data for 38 years.

EKU says Robert Watts will receive an award from the weather service Thursday at the school's Manchester campus.

Watts is the manager of the school's 554-acre nature preserve called Lilley Cornett Woods in Letcher County.

Lilley Cornett Woods is a site for ecological and environmental research that includes 250 acres of what is known as "old-growth forest," or forest untouched by humans for 150 years.

According to the school, Watts is one of 14 people nationwide receiving the same award for longtime volunteerism. It's called the John Campanius Holm Award.

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