Elizabeth Nysson, a second-year master's student at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment, has received a financial award from Safari Club International Michigan Involvement Committee (SCI MIC) for her work on pronghorn migration.

Nysson received the 2008 Joseph G. Schotthoefer Memorial Student Award for research on the antelope-like animal, which is native to the western United States.

Her research is part of a team-based master's project at SNRE that focuses on the animal's ancient migration route. The route is experiencing fragmentation due to loss of open ranges and rural expansion in western Wyoming as well as the Greater Yellowstone region. One of the core components of the master's project centers on developing collaborative tools for stakeholder involvement in order to preserve the migratory path.

Last year, her interest in wildlife issues in the West played a part in her being named to the inaugural class of Wyss Scholars at SNRE. The Wyss Scholars Program identifies and nurtures a new generation of leaders on western land conservation issues by providing financial support to students committed to careers as practicing conservationists of western land, either with a federal or state land management agency or a non-profit conservation group working in the region.

As part of the Safari Club award, Nysson received $1,000.

In addition to supporting designated activities and programs of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the SCI MIC provides grants to graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in wildlife and related fields at Michigan-based institutions of higher education.

An Environmental Policy and Planning student, Nysson has a keen interest in land-use issues in areas of the Intermountain West experiencing increased energy development, housing expansion and sprawl. í‚  She plans to graduate in May 2009.

Her interest in land conservation issues emerged during her undergraduate experience at the University of Wyoming, where she received a bachelors of arts degree in May 2006. After graduation, she served a year for AmeriCorps through the Campus Corps Program at the University of Montana. While there, Nysson volunteered at the Wilderness Institute working on its legislative history project and learning about the wilderness designation process.

About Safari Club International Michigan Involvement Committee (SCI MIC)
SCI MIC formed in 1980 as a committee of representatives from each of the chapters of Safari Club International within Michigan to work with designated representatives of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to coordinate funding of MDNR wildlife conservation programs and MDNR wildlife research projects that might otherwise might not be funded.
http://scimic.org/aboutus.html

The Wyss Scholars Program for the Conservation of the American West
The program is identifies and nurtures a new generation of leaders on Western land conservation issues by providing financial support to students in master's degree programs related to land conservation.í‚  The program supports students enrolled in master's programs at participating universities, and who have demonstrated a commitment to careers as practicing conservationists of western land, either with a federal or state land management agency or a non-profit conservation group working in the region.
http://www.wyssfoundation.org/Scholars.htm

About the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment
The School of Natural Resources and Environment's overarching objective is to contribute to the protection of the Earth's resources and the achievement of a sustainable society. Through research, teaching, and outreach, faculty, staff, and students are devoted to generating knowledge and developing policies, techniques and skills to help practitioners manage and conserve natural and environmental resources to meet the full range of human needs on a sustainable basis.
http://www.snre.umich.edu/