Energy is what turns on EWEB educator.

Byline: Faces and places by The Register-Guard

Name: John Femal

Occupation: Community education coordinator for the Eugene Water and Electric Board.

Age: 44

Job background: He's been with EWEB for 15 years, the past seven in his present job. He began as a conservation analyst. He wanted to teach physics when he moved to Eugene in 1987, but wound up working for the Lane Education Service District Planetarium.

Hometown: Kaukauna, Wis., home of the cheese company of the same name.

Family: Wife, Julie Fischer; son, Brenden, 9; daughter, Claire, 6.

Education: He earned a B.A. in engineering at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and then got a second B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison to teach physics and math. "But I secretly wanted to teach about energy," he says.

What turned him on to education: "I just kind of thought it was fun. I liked school, my own school experiences were very good. I had great teachers."

What his job involves: A key part of Femal's job is administering EWEB's educational grant program, which distributes about $670,000 a year to the Eugene, Bethel, Springfield and McKenzie school districts for energy and water education programs. Over the last seven years, the program has earmarked about $4.5 million for the schools.

He's also in charge of the Partners in Education program, which provides grants to private schools, nonprofit education groups, individual teachers and other institutions. Femal also makes presentations to schools, coordinates assemblies, leads tours of the Leaburg Dam and Hayden Bridge water treatment plant and organizes other projects, including the construction of The Sun Rover, a flashy, mobile solar-powered generator housed across from EWEB's offices. He'll soon begin taking it out to schools and festivals.

One of his favorite presentations is "Zapsville," a model city he takes into third-grade classrooms to teach about outdoor electric safety. The model, full of lights and buzzers, is always a hit, he says.

"That's one of the things that really gets me going, because I really love getting out in the schools," says Femal, who estimates he spends between 15 percent and 20 percent of his time in schools.

The coolest thing he teaches kids: Probably this classic: How to make electricity with a magnet and a coil of wire. "It's kind of fun, because we usually turn down the lights and move the coil through a large magnet, so it's sort of like magic," he says. "There can be some really wide eyes."

What he likes best about the job: Helping boost knowledge of energy and environmental stewardship. "I see that really as the foundation of what I do," he says. "Utilities are pretty invisible. We don't think about them until the lights go off and the water stops."

He also enjoys being able to fund programs that local schools - all of which are experiencing some level of fiscal distress - wouldn't otherwise have.

And lastly, he likes helping schools make cross-district connections to share good ideas for water and energy education programs.

And least: The paperwork

Favorite pastimes: Femal loves the outdoors. He's an avid backpacker, fly fisherman, white-water kayaker and cross-country skier. He also enjoys tennis and car camping.

Last book read: "A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain," a collection of short stories by Robert Butler.

Favorite television show: "Judging Amy"

Favorite music: Greg Brown and Neil Young are two favorites, but he likes a lot of other folk artists.

Favorite food: A toss-up between freshly caught brook trout and squash

Favorite movie: Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life"

If he wasn't doing what he's doing: He'd probably be a teacher or an engineer, although sometimes he's intrigued by the job of police detective. "I do like to figure out puzzles," he says.

High school days: "I was a studious kid. My wife always tells me, `You must have been a nerd.' I was on the math team."

- By Anne Williams

CAPTION(S):

John Femal of Eugene Water and Electric Board spreads the word about energy conservation. One of his favorite tools is The Sun Rover, a mobile solar generator that he demonstrates at area schools. BRIAN DAVIES / The Register-Guard