|
|||
 |
|||
|
|
W.M. Keck Foundation Grant
to Fund For Immediate Release: RICHMOND, Ind. — Enabled by a $360,000 grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, Earlham College will soon harness its impressive powers in science to develop multidisciplinary curriculum modules and student-faculty research projects focusing on metals in the environment. 
A team of nine faculty members from five departments joined in developing the project. Front row (from left): Charles Peck, associate professor of computer science; Michael Deibel, project director and associate professor of chemistry; David Matlack, assistant professor of biology. Back row: Margaret Streepey, assistant professor of geosciences; Corinne Deibel, associate professor of chemistry; John Iverson, professor of biology; Lori Watson, assistant professor of chemistry; Ronald Parker, assistant professor of geosciences. Not pictured is Michael "Mic" Jackson, professor of mathematics. Students will participate in collecting, analyzing and interpreting data that will be integrated into ecological and risk assessments for selected contaminated sites, one on Earlham's back campus and the other at nearby Springwood Lake, within the boundaries of the city of Richmond. The W.M. Keck Foundation funded project provides a good example of how Richmond and Earlham cooperate on projects that benefit the greater Richmond community. Richmond Mayor Sally Hutton said, "This project will be of great interest and benefit to our community, and we are delighted to partner with Earlham in this endeavor." Biology coursework will characterize the populations and food chains involved at Springwood Lake, while summer research will focus on the analysis of metals in representative organisms from the lake. Faculty and students in the chemistry department will perform metal analysis from selected tissues taken from fish and turtles as well as water and soil samples. In geosciences, students will examine the geology and hydrology at Springwood Lake and participate in sampling core sediments from the lake. The mathematics department will make use of data in teaching students how to do typical tasks of descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion, and construction and interpretation of graphical displays of statistical information. Earlham's computer science department will design and build field-deployable remote monitoring systems. The solar-powered devices will monitor, record and upload data on temperature, pH, conductivity, redox potential, pressure and nitrate levels. The data will be available to any campus-linked computer system for classroom and laboratory use. Charlie Peck approaches the department's contribution to the project with characteristic zeal for solving problems. "The challenge is two-fold: One is figuring out the best way to teach computational science in the context of a disciplinary science. We are going into geosciences, chemistry and biology classes to teach computational methods in the context of those disciplines, rather than doing it as a separate stand-alone activity." Peck says two threads tie the initiative together — looking at a significant environmental problem in the field and laboratory, and doing it computationally. The project's benefit to students is pretty evident, according to Project Director Mike Deibel. "From the introductory level to the advanced level, these curriculum modules and research projects will allow our students to see, experience and appreciate the importance of multidisciplinary approaches in the investigation of 'real world' problems as well as the power of computational methodologies." This multidisciplinary project foretells a significant impact on science teaching at Earlham, says Len Clark, academic dean. "We've been seeing the nature of science growing and changing. The old boundaries between the scientific disciplines are becoming less rigid. The most important problems, especially environmental problems, aren't just a matter of biology, chemistry or geosciences." "Secondly, the border between mathematics and computing science and what used to be called the laboratory sciences is breaking down. The growth in computing science that allows for inexpensive supercomputing to handle unimaginably large data sets turns out to be a large advantage to field science." The W.M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 for general charitable purposes by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company. In 1979, the transfer of more than $43 million from the W.M. Keck Trust turned a modest philanthropic organization into one of the largest foundations in the United States. The foundation's assets have grown, and its mission has broadened and deepened in succeeding years while sustaining its founder's passion for innovations that provide far-reaching benefits for humanity. — EC — Contact: Denise Purcell, public affairs assistant
|
|
|
|||
Earlham
College · 801 National Road West · Richmond,
Indiana 47374-4095 |