2013-2014 Chapter Grant Recipients
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013-2014 SEEDS Chapter Grants; University of Puerto Rico’s LIFE chapter, McPherson’s SEEDS chapter, Dillard University’s SEEDS Chapter, and the Eco Club at Northwest Mississippi Community College. Each proposal showed great potential both for student development and furthering scientific understanding. ESA SEEDS awarded more than $9,000 to eleven SEEDS Chapters with awards ranging from $150-$3,000. Congratulations! Funding for the awards was made possible with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Stay tuned for updates from our awardees.
Alcorn State University
The ASU Campus Ecology Chapter plans to take a field trip to the Museum of Natural Science in Jackson. Mississippi. This trip will enrich the students knowledge about Ecology; give them the opportunity to observe paleontological specimens in the museum; allow them to appreciate biodiversity, and an understanding of extinction animals.
Chicago State University
The Biological Society Chapter of Chicago State University plans to use their funds for various reasons; 1. To create project that reduces the amount of birds that collide with windows and other structures on their way to the migratory bird habitat near campus and purchase a bird bath to attract these birds for students appreciations. 2. To create a trail through the campus prairie. 3. Purchasing a scale to weigh trash and debris from their beach cleanups every semester.
College of Menominee Nation
“Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Scientific Ecological Knowledge into a Forest Walking Trail on the CMN Campus.”
The CMN SEEDS Chapter has proposed a project that would utilize QR codes placed along a walking trail to direct walkers to information about local flora via smart phones or tablets. they hope to incorporate both traditionally ecological knowledge and scientific ecological knowledge throughout the trail.
Dillard University
“Invasive Aquatic Plant Monitoring and Citizen Science Project at Jean Lafitte National Park”
The Dillard University SEEDS Chapter proposed to monitor and quantify the invasive aquatic plant Salvinia molestai. In addition to Quantifying S. molestai the chapter intends to introduce students, particularly those from backgrounds that are historically under-represented in ecology, to ecology and scientific field work.
This past April, the Dillard University SEEDS Chapter collaborated with Dr Julie Whitbeck, a member of the ESA, and staff scientists at the Barataria Preserve of the Jean Lafitte National Park working to develop a protocol. This protocol will be used with volunteers in the future to monitor the ecological impacts of invasive feral pigs within the park.
Fort Lewis College
The Campus Ecology SEEDS chapter of Fort Lewis College will use the funds from their grant to organize and facilitate a speaker series for the winter of 2013-2014. Their award will allow them to provide refreshments and pizza for attendees of these events.
Gardner-Webb University
The Beta Beta Beta chapter of Gardner-Webb University is a new SEEDS Chapter and plans to use their funds to promote the Chapter on Earth Day with plants given out to those students that answer a simple quiz at their table. They will also use their funds for Science Day, an outreach program for intellectually disabled children, that would introduce them to animals sciences and environmental issues.
McPherson College
“Understanding Coastal Tropical Lowland Moist Secondary Forest Processes in a Highly Fragmented Human Dominated Matrix.”
This project will be done in partnership with the University of Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras and will examine questions about plant community assemblages and the effect of land use history on the forest community in the Northeast Ecological Corridor in Puerto Rico. This project will also have an outreach component that will enlist the help of local university and high school students in Puerto Rico and involve them in the research process at the corridor.
Northwest Mississippi Community College
“Wetlands to Establish Waterfowl Habitat”
The ECO Club at Northwest Mississippi Community College plans to erect shelter and housing for for various species of birds with the hope of establishing a local breeding population of varying species of waterfowl in wetlands near the campus. They also intend to plant rice and millet around the water banks both for food production and the agronomic benefit for the soil and surrounding wetland.
South Dakota State University
The South Dakota State University SEEDS Chapter plans to use the funds they receive to promote awareness of and involvement in ecological issues on their campus. They hope to do this through the use of posters, t-shirts. Additionally some of the money will be used as an initial investment in renting space to teach SCUBA diving classes as a strategic method of fundraising.
University of Puerto Rico – Bayamon
Phenology in a Community Garden
The Leading Initiative for Future Ecologist (LIFE) SEEDS Chapter at UPR – Bayamon will build and maintain a community garden which will help give field experience to students as wells as experience in the collection of data and their analysis. Tree phenology (production of leaves, seeds and fruits) are affected by local weather patterns specially temperature and humidity. This project will help students understand the time of the year that plants grow and reproduce. They will correlate patterns of growth, flower, fruit and seed production to weather patterns. This project will help fulfill the need of many students to experience research, in this case in an urban setting.
University of Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras
“Rediscovering Eugenia fajardensis: Building a Research Infrastructure for a Rare and Possibly Endangered Species.”
The AKKA SEEDS Chapter at UPR – Rio Piedras has proposed a plan to collect data on the recently re-discovered and possibly endangered species Eugenia fajardensis in the Northeast Ecological Corridor in Puerto Rico. They, in collaborations with McPherson College, hope to introduce local high school students to ecological field work through this project.