NCUR/LANCY INITIATIVE
AWARDEES FROM THE 2001 ROUND
The NCUR Board of Governors and the Alice and Leslie E. Lancy Foundation are pleased to announce the awardees from the third round of the NCUR/Lancy initiative. The award coordinator is listed for each institution.
Rapid Growth and Development in Southeastern Massachusetts: The Impact on the Town of Bridgewater and Neighboring Communities
Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA ($50,000)
Sustainability in Urban China: Environment, Pollution and Society in 21st Century China
Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA ($49,940)
A Sense of Place: Environmental Stewardship in a Benedictine Community
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, Collegeville, MN ($43,484)
Issues related to the expansion of O'Hare International Airport
Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL ($50,000)
Awardee Abstracts:
Rapid Growth And Development In Southeastern Massachusetts: The Impact On Natural Resources In The Town Of Bridgewater And Neighboring Communities
Bridgewater State College
Southeastern Massachusetts is currently the fastest growing region in the northeastern United States, raising concerns about the impact of growth and development on natural resources in the region. Located in the heart of southeastern Massachusetts, Bridgewater State College (BSC) is in a unique position to assist the Town of Bridgewater and the local communities in making data-based decisions concerning regional growth. The Departments of Chemistry, Biology, Earth Sciences and Geography, and Political Science propose an interdisciplinary undergraduate research program focused on key areas that are highly susceptible to unmanaged change: environmental pollution, land use, and biodiversity. The goals of the project are to: (1) graduate career-motivated students, with the self-confidence and abilities to conduct independent research, (2) disseminate analysis data on storm water runoff, patterns of vertebrate diversity, and recycling efforts to local communities, (3) complement the start of the BSC Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, and initiate interdisciplinary research programs in Environmental Contamination and Pollution Prevention, and (4) expand environmental practices and pedagogy in Green Chemistry.
Ten NCUR/Lancy Scholars and 6 faculty mentors will work on this project. Four biology and chemistry students will conduct analyses on priority storm water sites to help the town of Bridgewater develop a storm water management plan under the new Phase II rules established by the EPA. An earth science student will develop a GIS map of these sites, and two biology students will provide regional planners with a comprehensive picture of vertebrate diversity. Two chemistry students will develop laboratory methods and practices that will prevent pollution. A political science student will evaluate the success of recycling efforts in southeastern Massachusetts. A strong sense of community will be established among NCUR/Lancy participants through a series of orientation meetings, weekly lunchtime group meetings, NCUR/Lancy summer outings, and joint dissemination of the research products.
Project Directors:
Dr. Cielito M. DeRamos-King
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemical Sciences
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater, MA 02325
(508)531-2115; cderamos@bridgew.edu
Fax: (508)697-1785
Dr. Kevin D. Curry
Associate Professor of Biology
Department of Biological Sciences
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater, MA 02325
(508)531-2082; kcurry@bridgew.edu
Fax: (508)697-1785Sustainability in Urban China: Environment, Pollution, and Society in 21st Century Beijing
Central Washington UniversityThe environmental crisis in China is escalating due to tremendous population expansion coupled with unprecedented economic growth. The effects of environmental degradation in China are of mounting global concern, and therefore the problem of the sustainability of China's environmental resources is one of the most critical societal issues that the world faces. In response to this challenge, Central Washington University proposes a NCUR/Lancy Summer Scholars Program that will establish an interdisciplinary research project on the emerging socioeconomic and environmental issues confronting urban China. Together, with the Management Science Institute, Northern Jiaotong University, and the East-West Center, Hawaii, we will offer a summer research apprenticeship program that will bring together exceptional, financially needy undergraduates and an international group of faculty who are concerned with the escalating costs and consequences of environmental degradation in China.
Ten Lancy Scholars will be selected to engage in an interdisciplinary research project that focuses on critical environmental concerns such as water and air pollution, land use planning and solid waste disposal. To emphasize an interdisciplinary approach, these issues will be investigated holistically by integrating historical, economic, political science, sociological, and land-use perspectives by five tandem teams of students, each led by a faculty mentor. Students who have interests in resource management or socioeconomics will be paired with those who have interests in the culture and politics of China.The ten Lancy Scholars will enroll in a ten-week, spring quarter course entitled "China and the Environment" that will explore current environmental conditions and urban China's economic and social future. During this class, student teams will identify and refine a research topic. In July, at the East-West Center, students will work with scholars to further develop and refine their research plans. They will then continue on to Beijing, where they will conduct three weeks of field research. Upon returning to CWU, Scholars will compile and analyze their results, which will be presented at the upcoming NCUR meeting as well as our University-wide Symposium on Undergraduate Research.
Project Director:
Dr. James A. Cook
Assistant Professor
Central Washington University
jacook@cwu.eduA Sense of Place: Environmental Stewardship in a Benedictine Community
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, Collegeville, MNThe Saint John's University/College of Saint Benedict NCUR/Lancy program of undergraduate student/faculty collaborative research proposes an investigation of environmental stewardship in the context of our Catholic, Benedictine tradition. Our aim is to bring together persons from diverse disciplines to work communally in developing new understandings of environmental stewardship in philosophy and practice. We plan a team-centered program of research, including community-building activities and discussions that will offer opportunities for cross-fertilization and an interdisciplinary mingling of ideas around a central theme.
The program will develop the idea of a "sense of place" as it has been practiced by our monastic members and by CSB/SJU students since the institutions' founding nearly a century and a half ago. Since their founding in an unsettled and near-wilderness setting of central Minnesota, the monastic communities and the colleges have respected the Benedictine value of stewardship, which is well demonstrated by the preservation of the combined campus of 2,800 acres, including a restored shortgrass prairie, oak savannah, mixed maple-basswood forests, and numerous glacial lakes and potholes. We seek to expand upon this tradition by focusing our scholarly activities on the place where we live and work, examining our own sense of place by investigating the history of our relationship with the land, conducting experiments in sustainability and ecology, assessing the environmental impacts of our current practices, and disseminating our findings to the broader community as a contribution to the ongoing stewardship process.
We aim to provide opportunities for exceptional students to work closely with faculty in meaningful applied research; to offer unique educational experiences to students who would otherwise work outside their disciplines during the summer to pay the cost of their education; and to develop new knowledge and ideas about environmental stewardship, its philosophical underpinnings and application by the campus community. The students will live together in "environmentally friendly" earth-sheltered homes and will have 24 hour access to a lounge/library area established for group meetings, discussions, and casual use. We plan group excursions and a regular program of evening topical discussions and group meals.
Publicity and energy generated by the Lancy Program will cement the framework of a summer research program at our colleges and help us to find stable and continuing funding to support our growing program of Environmental Studies.
Project Director:
Dr. Marcus Webster
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
Collegeville, MN
MWebster@csbsju.eduIssues related to the expansion of O'Hare International Airport
Elmhurst College
The Elmhurst College Student Research Project will bring together Elmhurst College's top students with faculty members in 11 disciplines to address issues related to the expansion of O'Hare International Airport.
Student-faculty research teams will examine the complex issues of the increasingly important topic of airport expansion and development. As airports struggle to increase air traffic and local communities are split between the economic benefits, politics, and quality of life concerns related to expansion, the air traveler in the summer of 2000 experienced the worst delays and on-time service in the airline industry's history. O'Hare International Airport, located within 10 miles of Elmhurst College, embodies many of the problems and benefits as it again seeks the title of "world's busiest airport" by proposing additional runways and increased air traffic.
The project will begin with a course in the 2001 spring term. Following this informational and team-building phase, the students will begin their collaborative research with faculty mentors over an eight-week summer session. Both faculty and students will attend a weekly seminar to exchange ideas and information, foster interdisciplinary exchange, and examine the process of learning and doing research. During the fall term, students will discuss their involvement in the Student Research Project at Elmhurst College's New Student Orientation in late August and present their work at a special forum in November. Students will also prepare papers for publication and presentation at the NCUR conference.
Since many of our students live within the Chicago metropolitan area, participation in this study is seen as compelling and timely. It will engage our undergraduates in an important topic that affects them individually, their families, and their communities.Principal Investigators:
Dianne Chambers (diannec@elmhurst.edu) and Jon L. Johnson (jonj@elmhurst.edu)
Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL 60126
