Art and Ecology in Belize
Art and Ecology in
Belize
Lincoln Symposium
CESU Meeting
2009-2010 Mini-Grant
Awards
Recent Grant Awards
Well Being Foundation
Grant Award
Dr. Kay Paris
Dr. Joana Badara
Dr. Rebecca
Brackmann
Dr. Ann Callahan
Mr. Thomas Mackie
Dr. Rex Hobbs
Dr. Adam Rollins
LMU Student Receives
BRURC Award
Foundation Corner
Funding Opportunities
ORGSP
Contact Info
Pictured Above: The group atop one of the pyramids at the
“Stone Goddess” site. Photo by Jessica Rasmussen.
Over spring break, a new field course in art and ecology was led
by Assistant Professor of Art, Elissa Graff and Instructor of
Biology/Lab Coordinator, Jessica Rasmussen. Thirteen students
spent ten days in Belize researching the local art, culture, and
ecology. Also accompanying the students were Rick Stowe,
Director of Outdoor Programs and male chaperone, and Dr. Jack
Mansfield, Assistant Professor of Athletic Training and Program
Director for Athletic Training Education, who was researching
allied health course options. The students were enrolled in Art
395 and Bio 395 simultaneously for dual credit. The art and
culture component included historical connections to the Maya
via visiting ruins, meeting local artists and craftspeople, and
seeing the interconnectedness between art and ecology.
continued...
Art and Ecology in Belize continued...
Students experienced several crafts hands-on such as
weaving, creating jewelry out of kahun nuts, making
chocolate from recently harvested cacao, and painting
gourds. The biology component focused on tropical
ecology, including habitat understanding, species
identification, and rainforest conservation. The field
experience included three distinct environments – the
savannah, the rainforest, and the wetlands. Students
kept a journal and constantly took notes on the various flora and fauna being seen. The journal was also a
working record of the non-stop activity throughout the
day. The group was always on the go, spending the
night in a different bed, in a different location, almost
every day. The longest stay, three nights, was at
BFREE, the Belize Foundation for Research in Environmental Education, LMU’s research partner and cultural
connection. BFREE Education coordinator, Judy
Dourson, accompanied the group on the trip and is a
contributing factor for the resounding success of the
experience. The course, BFREE’s first incorporation of
a cross-discipline, has generated interest from other
schools throughout the U.S. As a result, Graff and
Rasmussen have agreed to share their syllabi.
Students Caroline Chadwell, Brandi Collins, Joshua C.
Collins, Micah Davis, Whitney Gibson, Jerry Hensley,
Genevieve Kemp, Marah Kingery, Anthony D. Lindsey,
Justin Patel, Kelly Scharffbillig, Amber Stoerp, and
Hannah Wilson will be presenting on their field experience at the Abraham Lincoln Museum Auditorium on
Tuesday, April 20th from 6:30-8pm.
Article contributed by Elissa Graff.
Weaving reed and sanding kahun nuts for
jewelry making. Photo by E. Graff.
Identifying recently seen species
at BFREE. Photo by E. Graff.
The group posing in front of the Ceiba tree, the
sacred tree to the Maya. Photo by J. Rasmussen.
Lincoln Symposium
The first two of a three-part lecture series arranged for faculty and staff, “The Public and Private
Lincoln,” was presented on April 7th and 14th here at LMU’s Harrogate campus. The series, sponsored
by the newly formed Abraham Lincoln Institute for the Study of Leadership and Public Policy, is being
presented by LMU faculty members, Dr. Charles Hubbard, Professor of History and Lincoln Historian,
and Dr. Michael Toomey, Associate Professor of History. The first lecture was entitled, “Lincoln: The
Springfield Years.” The second was entitled, “The President Confronts the Constitutional Crisis of
Secession .” The third lecture is entitled, “With Malice Towards None,” and will be presented on
Wednesday, April 21st. Faculty and staff were required to register in advance for the lecture series.
Attendees were asked to read “Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography” by William E.
Gienapp, prior to the first lecture. Additional suggested readings were also provided.
Information for this article was provided by Evelyn Smith.
CESU Meeting
Professor and Head of the University of Tennessee Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, Dr.
Keith Belli, and National Park Service Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Coordinator, Ray
Albright joined Dr. Alan Biel, Dean for Research and STEM Initiatives, and Dr. Ron Caldwell, Professor
of Biology, at the CESU meeting held at LMU-DCOM earlier this month. CESU National Network is a
network of cooperative units established to provide research, technical assistance, and education to
resource and environmental managers.
For more information about the Southern Appalachian Mountains CESU, please click here.
09-10 Mini-Grant Awards
Congratulations to the following Mini-Grant recipients for their hard work and dedication;
Dr. Ron Caldwell—“Terrestrial Mollusca (Land Snail) Biodiversity in Southern Belize (Toledo District),
Central America”
Dr. Adam Rollins—“Biodiversity and Ecological Associations of Mycetozoans in Southern Belize”
Dr. Jack McCann—“An AHP study on the critical factors for successful implementation of diversity
initiatives in Indian organizations”
Dr. Debra Salata—“The personal and professional activities of a fourteenth-century Catalan merchant,
operating in Montpellier from 1386 to 1402”
Dr. Donald McCarren—“Microlending as a Core Element of Corporate Strategy for the Global
Extractive Industries”
Recent Grant Awards
The following are new grant awards that have been processed through the ORGSP. If your grant award
is not listed, please let us know.
Dr. Adam Rollins was awarded a grant from Discover Life in America for a project entitled,
“Diversity of Myxomycetes and Algae Associated with the Soils of Different Forest Types in the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park.” —$3,760.00
Well Being Foundation Grant Award
Professors of Biology, Drs. Aggy Vanderpool and Ron Caldwell, have
recently been awarded a grant of $10,000 by the Well Being Foundation of
Tazewell, Tennessee to conduct a project involving habitat mapping and
water quality analysis for a five-mile stretch of river over the next eighteen
months. The Powell River provides significant critical habitat within its
watershed for a variety of rare and sensitive species of plants and animals.
The purpose of the project is to provide habitat mapping and water quality
analysis for River Miles 90-100 in an effort to establish baseline data for the ecological health of the
river and identify areas where introductions of threatened and endangered fish and mussel species
might be most successful. Information is not currently available for overall habitat types within the
river and the extents of these habitat types. Information provided by GIS habitat mapping of Powell
River Miles 90-100 could be critical for monitoring and management of existing populations of threatened species as well as planned reintroductions. A detailed habitat map of Powell River Miles 90-100
could provide information on critical habitat area in relation to continued watershed development.
Information gained by this study could support GIS habitat modeling and stimulate further research.
Specific goals of the project are:
Provide GIS substrate mapping of the Powell River, River Miles 90-100, including calculations for
area and percentages of various bottom, channel and bank physical characteristics.
Provide basic water chemistry analyses for selected areas on a seasonal basis.
Assess benthic macroinvertebrate communities in selected areas using EPA Rapid Biological Assessment protocols.
Funding from the Well Being Foundation is providing support for the part-time employment of four
LMU undergraduate students to serve as research interns during the summer. The students will be
actively engaged in all phases of the project, data collection and analysis and reporting of results. Drs.
Vanderpool and Caldwell will oversee the student internships and provide oversight for the project.
LMU Graduating Senior Andras Pauko, Sophomore Casey Poore, Sophomore Hannah Wilson, Senior
Heather Barker and guest intern from Georgetown College Ashley Givens, will be participating in the
project as interns.
Article contributed by Dr. Aggy Vanderpool.
For more information about the Well Being Foundation, Please click here.
Recent Scholarly Activity
Dr. Kay Paris,
Associate Professor
and Chair for the
Department of
Social Work, conducted a “Cluttered
Lives/Cluttered
Minds: Helping You
Get What You Want
Workshop” on
March 5, 2010, for the Social Workers of
the Lakeway Area Spring Mini-Conference
held in Morristown, TN. The workshop
provided an orientation to Glasser’s Choice
Theory and Reality Therapy and its application to the personal and professional
development of social workers.
Dr. Joanna Badara,
Assistant Professor
of Biology,
presented a paper
at the National
Association for
Research in Science
Teaching (NARST),
International
Conference in
Philadelphia, PA on
March 22nd. The
paper was presented during an invited
symposia on Environmental Education. The
title is: “The Intersection of Research in
Science Education and Environmental
Education: Environmental Literacy,
Attitudes, and Behaviors and Service
Learning as a Response.”
For more information about NARST,
please click here.
Dr. Rebecca Brackmann,
Assistant Professor of English,
has been awarded a Lindsay
Young Regional Visiting Faculty
Fellowship to study this
summer at the Marco Institute
for Medieval and Renaissance
Studies at the University of
Tennessee Knoxville.
Dr. Brackmann also published
an article;
“’Ond for cyning mærað’”: The Political Dimension of the
Old English Phoenix” in the Kentucky Philological
Review volume 24 (2010).
Dr. Ann Callahan, Assistant Professor of Social Work, presented
on the profession of social work
for two classes at Southeast
Kentucky Community & Technical
College on February 9th and
March 18th.
Dr, Callahan also published two
articles;
Callahan, A. (2010, April). A divine calling. Catalyst,
53(2), 6.
Callahan, A. M. (2010). A generalist approach for
spiritual care at the end-of-life. Journal of Social
Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care, 5(3-4),
199-215.
Recent Scholarly Activity
Mr. Thomas Mackie,
Director of the
Abraham Lincoln
Library and Museum,
attended the Annual
Lincoln Symposium
with Dr. Charles
Hubbard, Professor of
History and Lincoln
Historian. It was hosted by the Abraham
Lincoln Institute at the National Archives II,
College Park MD, on March 20, 2010. Mr.
Mackie also attended the Virginia
Association of Museums Annual Conference held in Richmond, VA on March 15-16,
2010. Mr. Mackie spoke on the issue of the
mission relevance of museums to universities. The title of his presentation was,
“Where Do We Go From Here: The
Authentic Object, Academe, and the Search
for Value?” His co-speakers included; Karol
Lawson, Director of the Sweet Briar College
Art Collection and Galleries (Former director of the Meyer Art Museum at RandolphMacon Women’s College, Lynchburg VA),
and Stephen Whittington, Director of the
Museum of Anthropology, Wake Forest
University. There were about 30 in
attendance at this session as well as an
extended Q & A afterward.
Dr. Rex Hobbs, Assistant
Professor of Physician
Assistant Studies and Director
for Didactic Education of the
Physician Assistant Program,
presented several lectures to
students at the University of
Queensland in Brisbane,
Australia in March where he
is an adjunct faculty member. The title of his presentations were; “Practical Approach to the HENT Exam,”
“Avoiding Pitfalls in the Ocular Exam,” and “Oral and
Pharyngeal Disorders and Evaluation of Hearing Loss
and Vertigo.”
Dr. Adam Rollins, Assistant Professor of Biology,
received the Martin-Baker
Award from the
Mycological Society of
America. This award is
given to early career
mycologists to help
support the costs associated with research.
Dr. Rollins also published
two articles;
Rollins, A. W., J. C. Landolt, and S. L. Stephenson.
201-. Dictyostelid cellular slime molds associated
with grasslands of the central and western United
States. Mycologia (In Press). Published online March
4, 2010 as doi:10.3852/09-99
Rollins, A. W., H. S. Adams, and S. L. Stephenson. 201-.
Changes in forest composition and
structure across the red spruce-hardwood ecotone in
the Central Appalachians.
Castanea. (In Press).
LMU Student Receives BRURC Award
LMU senior and Biology major, Shelby
Kirkpatrick, received the top research
award for her research entitled
"Antibiotic Resistance Analysis as a
Method of Tracking Fecal Contamination in Norris Reservoir, TN" at the
Blue Ridge Undergraduate
Research Conference (BRURC) in
Columbia, KY held March 26-27. Her
mentor for the project was Dr. Joanna
Badara.
Below is a brief summary of the
research project, provided by
Kirkpatrick.
Bacteria that normally reside in the
mammalian intestine are used as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational water. One such bacteria is
Shelby Kirkpatrick (right) accepts her award for her research entitled
Enterococcus faecalis.
"Antibiotic Resistance Analysis as a Method of Tracking Fecal
This study measured the amount of E.
Contamination in Norris Reservoir, TN"
faecalis at four marinas in Norris
Photo Provided by Shelby Kirkpatrick.
Reservoir using defined substrate
analysis. The study also attempted to track the source of E. faecalis using antibiotic resistance analysis. Antibiotic resistance analysis is a microbial source tracking method that exploits the fact that cattle
and humans are exposed to different antibiotics which causes their natural bacteria to have different
antibiotic resistance patterns. Two libraries of antibiotic resistance patterns were created. The first
consisted of antibiotic resistance patterns of E. faecalis samples obtained from cattle and the second of
patterns of samples obtained from human sewage. Later, antibiotic resistance patterns were obtained
from samples at four marinas at Norris Reservoir. The resistance pattern of the bacteria from the water samples was compared to the resistance patterns in the library to determine the source of the contamination. Over 50% of the samples from each marina were classified as coming from a human
source.
After graduation, Kirkpatrick will begin the Physician's Assistant program at LMU-DCOM in May of this
year.
Foundation Corner
Contributed by
Martha Scheidler, Director of Foundations
As you consider special projects that are of interest to you and to your department, or will become an
intrinsic part of your curriculum as the department grows, please keep in mind that private foundations not only fund on-going, successful programs, but also start-up projects. A program that has a
history of success may be ready for expansion. A beginning program will need careful budgeting,
sustainability and evaluation consideration. Finding the match for the program or project is just the
beginning.
This past week I had the privilege of visiting with The Chatlos Foundation. They had given a scholarship to LMU in 1998. When I asked how they had come to donate to LMU, Mr. Chatlos replied, “Well,
I suppose someone asked.” This simple statement reminded me again of how important the art of
cultivation is to a successful grant proposal.
From research, to writing, to cultivation, University Advancement and the ORGSP are here to help you
succeed.
Thank you to the following people for their contribution in submitting grants:
Dr. Michelle Heinemann: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation
Mr. Robert Sabbatini: Jenzabar Foundation 2010 Student Leadership Award
Dr. Jack McCann: United States Steel Foundation
Mr. David Laws: Energy ALERT Alliance
Mr. Wayne Wells: The Lyndhurst Foundation
Congratulations to the following people who were awarded their grant proposals:
Mr. Andras Pauko and Dr. Aggy Vanderpool for the restoration of the Avery Garden from Youth
Service America/Get Ur Good On.
Mr. Denton Loving and Mr. Silas House for the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival from The Max
and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation.
You can reach Martha at
(423) 869 6398, or
martha.scheidler@lmunet.edu
Funding Opportunities
Details and deadlines for each opportunity can be found by clicking on
the corresponding links. This list , as well as a variety of public, private,
and institutional funding source databases, can also be found on the
ORGSP website under funding sources.
Fine Arts
Humanities
Sciences
Social Sciences
http://www.lmunet.edu/curstudents/ORGSP/funding-sources.shtml
Federal Registrar
Educational
International
Health Related
Unrestricted / Other
Minorities / Women
Dr. Alan Biel, Dean for Research and STEM Initiatives
alan.biel@lmunet.edu
or call (423) 869-6815
The ORGSP staff would like to
thank everyone for their
contributions to the newsletter!
Pauline Lipscomb, Executive Director of the ORGSP
pauline.lipscomb@lmunet.edu
or call (423) 869-6214
Carolyn Gulley, Post-Award Grants Manager
carolyn.gulley@lmunet.edu
or call (423) 869-6291
As a reminder, all applications for
external funding must first begin by
contacting the ORGSP.
Stephanie Maiden, Administrative Assistant
stephanie.maiden@lmunet.edu
or call (423) 869-6834
The ORGSP is located in
Duke, 304
http://www.lmunet.curstudents/ORGSP
If your grant award, application,
presentation, or publication has not
been mentioned in this edition,
please forward your information to
us using the contact information
listed on the left.