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News and Developments in Environmental Studies
ES MAJOR NICOLE LLORENS CHOSEN AS FAIRCHILD CHALLENGE INTERN BY CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN
Junior Environmental Studies major Nicole Llorens (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) has been chosen as the Fairchild Challenge Summer 2008 Intern at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. The Fairchild Challenge is an interdisciplinary environmental competition sponsored by the Education Department of the Chicago Botanic Garden. It is open to all Chicago-area high school students and gives students the opportunity to take action on behalf of the environment, competing against their peers in subject areas that include green design, photojournalism, environmental service, civic engagement and more. As the Fairchild Challenge Summer Intern, Nicole will be involved in designing new Challenge options, developing and managing program evaluations, coordinating work for the Challenge among Challenge partner groups, organizations, and individuals, and organizing promotion and advertising projects associated with the Fairchild Challenge. The Fairchild Challenge Internship is unique in that it is intentionally designed to train the recipient in all aspects of the management of not-for-profit education programs and is designed to encourage and cultivate leadership and administrative ability. As this year's recipient of the Fairchild Challenge Internship, Nicole will be trained not only in environmental education but organizational administration, and will have opportunity to work directly and collaboratively with artists, researchers, horticulturists, organizational administrators, and other professionals in the course of her duties. The Wheaton College Environmental Studies Program congratulates Nicole on her selection to this prestigious and exciting position.
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FINALLY FINISHED! ES DIRECTOR'S NEW CONSERVATION TEXTBOOK NOW IN PRINT!
Fred Van Dyke, Professor of Biology and Director of Wheaton's Environmental Studies Program, can finally go home at night! The second edition of his conservation biology textbook, Conservation Biology: Foundations, Concepts, Applications is finished and in print! Published by Springer (http://www.springer.com/life+sci/ecology/book/978-1-4020-6890-4), the new text not only covers the science of conservation at genetic, population, and ecosystem levels, but includes chapters on conservation economics, law, and values and ethics, and concludes with a special chapter devoted to explaining how to enter the field of conservation biology as a career vocation. Sir Ghillean Prance, former Director of the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew (England, UK), noted, after reviewing the book, "This is a significant update and revision of a teaching resource of major importance to the teaching of conservation biology."
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ES MAJOR ABBY HART RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION FROM MORRIS K. UDALL FOUNDATION
Environmental Studies Junior Abigail (Abby) Hart (Milliersburg, Ohio) received commendation as Honorable Mention in the 2008 Morris K. Udall Scholarship Competition sponsored by the Morris K. Udall Foundation. The Foundation recognizes outstanding achievement and evidence of career commitment in environmental studies and policy and in Native American studies. Abby was recognized particularly for her work in Honduras in summer 2007 where, in Azacualpa, Honduras working for a development organization, Comisión de Acción Social Menonita (the Mennonite Social Action Commission), Abby developed management plans for local watersheds that reduced water pollution associated with coffee growing, at the same time working with local farmers and officials of adjacent municipalities to reduce pesticide use, inappropriate burning on agricultural lands, and develop more diverse marketing opportunities and agricultural production systems, especially involving local women.
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ES STUDENTS CHOSEN FOR RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND MANAGEMENT POSITIONS FOR SUMMER OF 2008
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES MAJOR GRACE WILLIS CHOSEN FOR STUDY OF DESERT TORTOISE IN NEVADA BY BEC CONSULTING
 
Grace Willis (Las Vegas, Nevada), an environmental studies major at Wheaton College, has been hired by Nevada environmental consulting firm BEC Environmental, Inc. for the summer of 2008. BEC is a is a multi-disciplinary team of professionals that specialize in providing environmental compliance and related services to government and industry. Grace first worked for BEC over the winter break of 2007-2008, and did such an outstanding job that she has been asked to return. In her new position, Grace will spend the summer assisting in biological fieldwork including studies of populations of the desert tortoise and its response to urban development, as well as environmental geology and toxicology assessments regarding brownfields reclamation, wellhead protection plans and renewable energy projects in southern Nevada. The Wheaton College Environmental Studies Program congratulates Grace on receiving this important recognition and opportunity!
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ES MAJOR KARI AMICK CHOSEN BY US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE FOR SUMMER POSITION AT LAKE UMBAGOG NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Kari Amick (Grafton, Wisconsin), a double major in Biology and Environmental Studies, has been selected by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for a combination research and environmental education position at the Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in New Hampshire, USA. Kari will spend about half of her time working in environmental and conservation education, providing environmental interpretation for groups and individuals touring and visiting the refuge, as well as working with students in the Youth Conservation Corps and local community members town of Errol, New Hampshire. In her research duties, Kari will assist Fish and Wildlife Service scientists and managers with various biological surveys on and around Lake Umbagog , especially targeting the monitoring of loons and marsh birds, but also of surveying and monitoring populations of land birds and vegetation. The Wheaton College Environmental Studies Program congratulates Kari on her selection to this position with a major US federal conservation agency.
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ES Student Abby Hart Named to Summer Research Team with Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
Junior Environmental Studies major Abigail Hart (Millersburg, Ohio, USA) has been chosen for a full time summer research position at the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Japanese Beetle Laboratory of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). In the summer of 2007, Abby worked for the Mennonite Social Action Commission in Honduras where she helped local farmers reduce water pollution associated with coffee growing, helped the farmers identify new markets for their products in a nearby municipality, and how to better employ prescribed burning to benefit agricultural lands. Consistent with her commitment to the importance of agricultural research, management, and policy in environmental conservation, Abby’s work this summer will involve research on Japanese Beetles and other insect pests that prey on agricultural and ornamental plants. In the laboratory, Abby will work with a team of scientists who will determine how Japanese beetles and other pest insects respond to different kinds of chemical compounds that could be used to protect crops from such pests. In the field on the OARDC campus and its extension sites, Abby will be part of a research team that will observe at what life stage, time of day, or time of year pesticide application or trapping is most effective against Japanese beetles and other pest species. Abby and her colleagues will also investigate which methods, pesticide application or trapping, are most effective against Japanese beetles and which are the safest and most cost effective for agricultural laborers who work in fields that may be infested with Japanese beetles and other pest species. The Wheaton Environmental Studies Program congratulates Abby on her recognition by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and her selection to this research effort.
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ES Student Reed Fagan Appointed Wilderness Trip Leader at Wheaton's HoneyRock Campus
Reed Fagan (Leawood, Kansas) will be working this summer as a Wilderness Trip Leader with the Adventure Ministry Program (AMP) at HoneyRock, Wheaton's North Woods
Campus, based near Three Lakes, Wisconsin. His job will be to facilitate
spiritual growth and leadership skills of high school-aged students in the
context of wilderness excursions in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In
teaching wilderness skills, orienteering, and principles of the Bible, Reed
and his fellow AMP leaders aim to help the students learn more about who
they are, while increasing their self-confidence and trust in the Lord and their joy in his creation. This will be a challenging job, as the Upper Peninsula is known for its
muggy, mosquito-filled bogs, but Reed looks forward to relief coming from great bird watching opportunities and abundant thimbleberries.
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ES STUDENT KAREN RICE CHOSEN FOR DEER AND FOREST RESTORATION STUDY
Environmental Studies major Karen Rice (Winthrop Harbor, Illinois) will be serving this summer as a research assistant on a study of the effects of deer browsing on forest restoration sites in Lake County, Illinois, northwest of Chicago. The study is sponsored by Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, Illinois), and Karen's work will involve identifying plant species on sites, especially species consumed by deer, and identifying the level of damage deer have caused on different species. In addition to working with other research assistants and graduate students from Southern Illinois University, Karen will also have opportunity to work with a larger team of botanists and managers of the Lake County Forest Preserve. The Wheaton Environmental Studies Program congratulates Karen on being chosen to be a part of this important research effort.
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ES STUDENT MARK DOWNEY SELECTED BY US NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO AID BLACK BEAR MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IN SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS
This summer, Mark Downey (Petoskey, Michigan) will be working in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (California, USA) as an intern with their black bear management program. Bear management in Sequoia and King's Canyon involves identifying and reducing the effects of human-related food sources on bear behavior, movement, and dispersion. Mark's work will include tracking and monitoring bears, hazing bears away sites of human activity, and educating humans about the effects of altered food availability on black bear ecology. The overall goal of Mark's effort will be to protect people from bears and bears from people. As a member of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Bear Management Team, Mark will be spending his days in the Sierra Nevada talking to visitors about correct food storage and safe interactions with bears, maintaining bear-proof storage facilities, and, when necessary, hazing bears away from visitors and human facilities. The Wheaton Environmental Studies Program recognizes and congratulates Mark on his selection by the National Park Service for this important work.
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ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES MAJOR JENNIFER LUEDTKE CHOSEN BY US FOREST SERVICE FOR MONITORING STUDY OF THE MARBLED MURRELET
 Jennifer Luedtke (Nyon, Switzerland) will be working for the U.S. Forest Service at the Redwood Sciences Laboratory (RSL) in Arcata, California this summer. She will be o assisting Forest Service scientists in their long-term Marbled Murrelet and landbird monitoring program in the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion of the US Pacific Northwest. This work is part of a comprehensive program of Timber Management/Wildlife Habitat Interactions research developed and administered by RSL. RSL is working to provide the information and understanding needed to sustain wildlife diversity in dynamic landscapes with multiple resource demands. Specific areas of research in which Jennifer will be involved will include avian population and demographic trends, migration patterns, and populations’ relationships with habitat. Jennifer will also be working towards attaining professional certification as a certified Bird Bander under the requirements of the North American Banding Council Bander Certification Program. The Wheaton Environmental Studies Program congratulates Jennifer on her selection to this research team and its important management and conservation efforts.
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WHEATON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES STUDENTS DUNN AND ENGEL COMPLETE PHASE ONE OF AMPHIBIAN BIODIVERSITY STUDY IN DUPAGE COUNTY
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Brittney Dunn |
Brittney Dunn (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) and Allison Engel (Wheaton, Illinois) have completed the first phase of a study of amphibian biodiversity and vernal pool restoration in DuPage County, Illinois for the DuPage Forest Preserve and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Vernal pools are temporary pools that typically form in deciduous, temperate forests during spring, often occurring in low-lying areas in the forest from runoff of spring rains and melting snow. Although they are not permanent, often small, and easily overlooked, vernal pools are critical breeding habitats for forest dwelling amphibians such as tiger salamanders, spring peepers and other species. Working with scientists of the DuPage Forest Preserve in preserves surrounding the Wheaton College campus, Brittney and Allison have been determining if pools that occur in clustered groups have different amphibian communities than isolated pools, and if amphibian species traditionally found breeding in nearby marshes also use vernal pools as a kind of “auxillary” breeding ground. In addition to their work on amphibian communities, Dunn and Engel also have been investigating the differences between planktonic and invertebrate communities in natural vernal pools compared to “restored” (artificially created) vernal pools that are part of a larger effort to restore wetlands associated with the West Branch of the DuPage River in DuPage County, Illinois. This second study, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will help to determine the effectiveness of restoration efforts in their initial stages. The Wheaton Environmental Studies Program congratulates and commends Brittney and Allison for their continuing efforts on these important studies.
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