During the Summer of 2010, Bethany worked for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as their Restoration Practices Adaptive to Climate Change Safeguards Intern at their Great Lakes Regional Center in Ann Arbor, MI. Her supervisor was Melinda Koslow, the Regional Campaign Manager for the Climate Change Safeguards Program and a graduate of SNRE. Bethany researched current climate change projections for Southeast Michigan and restoration practices adaptive to climate change.
Conservation Ecology
SNRE Dean Rosina M. Bierbaum and Professors Andy Hoffman, Maria Carmen Lemos and Ted Parsons contributed to a series of recently published national reports on climate change. The National Research Council of the National Academies of Science produced the series, called America's Climate Choices, at the request of Congress.
Three SNRE researchers have been selected to contribute climate-change adaptation research and analysis to the fifth climate assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The comprehensive assessments examine climate change in terms of physical science, adaptation, and mitigation of impacts, and provide governments with sound scientific knowledge of climate change.
In this internship, Bethany Hellmann worked as a natural areas technician at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. Her main duties included invasive species removal, trail maintenance and planting native plants. She learned much about ecological restoration, native areas maintenance and team work.
Bridget Hohner, an SNRE Aquatic Sciences master's student, explains her research on the effects of chemicals to control sea lampreys on mussel populations in Michigan streams. The work is highlighted in a video produced by SNRE Professor Sara Adlerstein through special funding provided by the Rackham Graduate School.
University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues say this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" is expected to be larger than average, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a $659 million fishery. The 2010 forecast, released today by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), calls for a Gulf dead zone of between 6,500 and 7,800 square miles, an area roughly the size of Lake Ontario.
Typical application deadline:
ongoing
Contact Name:
Darlene Ray-Johnson
Page last updated:
04/07/2010
Contact Phone:
(734) 647-7548
Funding source home page:
Applicant Eligibility:
Graduate
Applicant Eligibility Comments:
Students must be in good academic standing in a Rackham degree program. Rackham graduate students are limited to two (2) Emergency Fund awards.
weblinks:
Keywords:
General support
Amount:
up to $2,500
Funding Abstract:
The Rackham Graduate Student Emergency Fund is intended to help meet the financial needs of Rackham graduate students who encounter an emergency situation or one-time, unusual, or unforeseen expenses during their degree program. Situations eligible for funding include such events as:
- Personal or family medical, dental or mental health emergencies
- Major accidents and events such as fire and natural disasters
- Expenses related to the illness or death of an immediate relative
Type of Funding:
Grant
Application Process and Required Materials:
The online application includes:
- Brief statement describing the emergency situation or one-time, unusual or unforeseen expense and the total dollar amount of emergency funds being requested.
- Budget detailing the amount of emergency funding requested, a list of the specific expenses to be covered by the award, and your financial situation including sources of income and other available funding.
- Letter of recommendation of no more than two pages (1,500 words) from either the graduate chair or the department chair of the student's program.
Fund Usage:
General support
Funding Restrictions:
Normal living expenses such as rent, car repairs, child care, utilities and pet-related expenses are generally not covered by this fund.
In this internship John Cawood was a part of a working group in NOAA's Regional Collaboration team which assembled regional climate change training materials for all NOAA/SeaGrant employees. The final products, a series of webinars and a web portal, served as a pilot project for the working group, reaching over 10% of NOAA employees in the Great Lakes region. John performed an evaluation that was used to track the achievement of objectives and improve the program.
Two School of Natural Resources and Environment professors were among 10 University of Michigan faculty elected as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dan Brown and Ivette Perfecto joined 530 scientists and researchers elected as part of an annual process conducted ty the AAAS. Professor Brown, who joined SNRE in 1999, was recognized for contributions to the understanding of the consequences of land-use change on ecosystems and human vulnerability via the innovative blending of social and ecological analysis. Professor Perfecto, who joined SNRE in 1989, was recognized for contributions to preserving biological diversity, particularly in demonstrating the importance of incorporating agricultural systems in models for conservation of biodiversity.
Assistant Research Scientist
Assistant Research Scientist
I am an aquatic ecologist with specific focus on fluvial ecosystems and benthic invertebrate ecology. I am interested in assessing and understanding the effects of human landscape alteration on river ecosystems. A large part of my work has been to develop landscape-based models of riverine condition using biological indicators and regression-based models that predict expected condition for rivers of Michigan and Wisconsin.
