Award pushes biodiversity field research forward

The project funded by the Richard and Susan Hill Fund will work to establish local long-term ecological field research projects that can engage undergraduates, providing them with a summer field research experience, and in the process, establish two additional long-term ecological research studies on the MSU campus. 

Louise Mead, Integrative Biology graduate program director, won the award for "Establishing local long-term ecological field research projects that engage undergraduates."

The work will establish transects to evaluate snake cover board use and biodiversity at Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center.  The project will describe the environment of the Inland Lakes area by mapping plant communities, setting turtle traps, using trail cameras, and carrying out bird surveys to characterize these populations, as well as aquatic sampling to characterize aquatic invertebrates in each of the lakes. 

Opportunities to engage in fieldwork during the summer will hopefully lead to continued research throughout the academic year, Mead said. She is an EEB core faculty member.

This fund is in celebration of Dick Hall's retirement in 2017 after a 46-year career as a creative researcher and an inspiring teacher. The goal of the fund is for as many students as possible to have opportunities to learn through direct encounters with the natural world.