Natural history museum awarded $149,296 grant

A campus treasure often overlooked, the GCSU Natural History Museum is immersed in the spotlight after recently being awarded a $149,296 grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The funding will be used to invest in a two-year project developed to incorporate the museum and planetarium’s over 100,000 cataloged specimens and lifelike graphic projections into the curriculum of local grade 3-8 classrooms.

The project, From Fossils to Space, aims to engage primarily science teachers and students in the fields of paleontology, earth sciences and astronomy.

Through providing the necessary training and hands-on experience, the community can eagerly take full advantage of their access to the abundance of resources the museum has to offer.

Apart from recognition of over 100 previously generated scholarly works, research and resources, Dr. Robert Chandler, professor of biology and lead investigator, and Dr. Rosalie Richards, director of the Science Education Center and co-investigator, have a much greater goal in sight.

“Universities are responsible for serving their community; this is our chance to serve the community, and the Southeast as a whole,” Richards said.

At the heart of serving the public more effectively lies the hope of building a culture of science within the Baldwin, Jones, Hancock, Putnam and Wilkinson county area.

Prior to the grant’s establishment, a number of GCSU professors often found themselves traveling to these surrounding school systems to give lectures, and although they enjoyed doing so, professors became limited not only in time, but also in the number of specimens that could be transported to and from the campus museum.

“A part of this project involves cultivating the culture of going to the museum as what you do. You go to the mall to shop for new clothing and you go to the museum to shop for new experiences,” Chandler said.

With the luxury of hosting student field trips to the museum currently underway, students can now be completely exposed to the new and exciting experiences Chandler speaks of.

That’s great news for GCSU students, as the exploration and unique history collections encountered aren’t restricted solely to science teachers and their students.

A number of students have not only had a direct impact on the museum itself, but have been positively influenced through participation in training to conduct museum tours, assisting in Web page design, and gaining valuable experience through internships and field work.

“After my family and I visited the museum, I especially enjoyed it because I was able to share the same enthusiasm for science that the museum captures with my family,” said Kirsten Canale, a junior biology and Spanish major.

Students have devoted a large amount of time to the process of research concerning the museum’s numerous specimens. They’ve also contributed toward GCSU’s awarding of the grant.

The federal grant should act as a gateway to provide numerous opportunities to enhance GCSU’s capacity for receiving additional federally-funded grants for education-based projects.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 4 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry