NCUR/LANCY INITIATIVE
AWARDEES FROM THE 2004 ROUND
The NCUR Board of Governors and the Alice and Leslie E. Lancy Foundation are pleased to announce the awardees for the 2004 NCUR/Lancy initiative:
Bioprospecting in Yellowstone National Park: Scientific Possibilities and Societal Ramifications
Montana State University - BozemanSuccessful Aging in the Heartland:The Challenge of Preparing Interdisciplinary Healthcare Teams for Our Aging Population
Central Missouri State UniversityAwardee Abstracts:
Bioprospecting in Yellowstone National Park: Scientific Possibilities and Societal Ramifications
Montana State University - Bozeman
Yellowstone National Park is approximately 90 miles southeast of MSU–Bozeman. Due to the proximity of the park and the wealth of interesting features, a variety of research projects at MSU focus on the park. Along with exciting studies in biology, chemistry and geology, the park also attracts historians, philosophers and educators. We want to take advantage of this significant level of interest by establishing a Lancy Scholars program investigating the issue of bioprospecting in Yellowstone National Park.Scientific research, including bioprospecting, does not deal with nature or knowledge in a vacuum. Instead, all research is wedded to the societies, economies, and political structures that produce science itself. The development of these various influences must be understood in order to fully comprehend the tensions and promise of advancing technologies that exploit genetic and biochemical resources. The relatively recent exploration of this area's microorganisms for commercially valuable materials should be understood within a larger historical, political, and philosophical context.
Our Lancy Scholars Program will bring together students and faculty from a variety of disciplines. Half of the student/faculty teams will work on the isolation and investigation of thermophiles found in Yellowstone National Park. The other half will study the historical, ethical and societal impacts of bioprospecting. Layered over the individual research projects will be a discussion, in collaboration with park management, concerning the development of a decision support process for establishing bioprospecting agreements. The critical stakeholders will be engaged in a series of workshops to identify critical issues. This information will be used to develop a decision support process, which will be presented to the stakeholders for review, evaluation and modification. It is anticipated that most stakeholders will buy into the resulting process because they were asked to provide continual feedback to the program.
Project Director:
Dr. Steven Holmgren
Department of Chemistry
Montana State University
holmgren@chemistry.montana.eduSuccessful Aging in the Heartland: The Challenge of Preparing Interdisciplinary Healthcare Teams for Our Aging Population
Central Missouri State UniversityThe fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is the over-65 age group. Currently, 12.5% of our population is aged 65 or older. By 2025, that number will be 20%. In many rural areas, the senior population is growing at an even faster rate. This is true in Missouri where seniors comprise 13.5% of the population. Of our 115 counties, 15% already have senior populations above 20% and 84% have senior populations above the national average.
Aging brings inevitable changes which affect quality of life. Although common, there is little consensus as to the effect these changes have on successful aging. As the senior population grows and the supply of healthcare professionals vital to facilitating healthy aging shrinks, developing interdisciplinary healthcare delivery models becomes critical.
This project will develop models of successful aging in the Heartland. The project goals include: (1) preparing undergraduate students in the health-related professions to conduct interdisciplinary research, (2) developing a model of and disseminating information about factors which support successful aging in rural areas, and (3) training future healthcare team leaders in interdisciplinary practice.
The eight Lancy Scholars, paired with faculty mentors from their own disciplines, will conduct literature reviews from their fields of nursing, human performance/fitness-wellness, dietetics, social work, psychology, and communication disorders. The team will then identify variables associated with successful aging, select research methods and design, and develop survey instruments. Required IRB protocols will be followed. Selected subject populations will be surveyed. Data analysis and presentation preparations will follow. The sense of community crucial to group development will be established and supported through a series of orientation meetings followed by weekly lunchtime meetings, team work sessions, summer field trips, and joint dissemination of the research products.
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Julie Clawson
Central Missouri State University
clawson@cmsu1.cmsu.edu
