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Grant money supplied by the Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association and Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is supporting All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory research in the Park for the 2001 season. Dr. John Morse, Discover Life in America Board member and Science Committee Co-Chair, administered the "Mini-Grant" program. The review panel included eight DLIA scientists. Requests totaled $130,000 for the $50,000 budgeted for this year. The granted proposals' executive summaries may be viewed on the Discover Life web site: <www.discoverlife.org>
Sixteen proposals were funded - six fully and ten partially. The research will delve into a variety of life forms in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, from algae to spiders. Two of this year's projects involve young people designing and conducting scientific research in the Park. Several studies include examining little known habitats such as the forest canopy and mossy seeps on rock exposures. Some of the proposals are continuations of previous and on-going work. All are coordinated with the Discover Life in America Science Plan.
Recipients of the grants will present a written and oral report of results to date at the winter 2001 annual meeting of the ATBI, with a final report by 1 May 2002. Discover Life hopes to obtain additional sources of financial support in order to encourage the tremendous amount of research needed to complete the ATBI. Individuals and organizations interested in assisting with the funding of future ATBI research please contact Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 865-453-2428.
Congratulations to these scientists for their selection:
- Dr. Peter H. Adler and Mr. Will K. Reeves, Department of Entomology, Clemson University - Biting Flies and Their Symbionts
- Dr. Paul J. Bartels, Environmental Studies Department, Warren Wilson College - Initial Tardigrade and Meiofauna Inventory
- Dr. Christopher E. Carlton, Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University - Coleoptera
- Dr. R. Edward DeWalt, Illinois Natural History Survey - Abrams Creek Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Tricoptera
- Dr. Jeffrey R. Johansen, Department of Biology, John Carroll University - Algal Species in Hydroterrestrial Environments
- Dr. Harold W. Keller, Central Missouri State University - Tree Canopy Biodiversity
- Dr. Joe B. Keiper, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Dr. B.A. Foote, Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University - Diptera, selected families
- Dr. John C. Landolt, Department of Biology, Shepherd College - Slime Molds
- Dr. William Moser, Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution and Dr. Donald Klemm, Ecosystems Research Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Leeches
- Mr. Edward G. Riley, Department of Entomology, Texas A & M University - Nomenclature, Distributions and Associations of Leaf Beetles
- Dr. Brian G. Scholtens, Department of Biology, College of Charleston - Lepidoptera
- Dr. Michael J. Sharkey, Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky - Hymenoptera
- Mr. Jon Souders, Glen Este High School - Little River Insects
- Mr. Paul Super, Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont - Student Interns
- Dr. Mark J. Wetzel, Illinois Natural History Survey - Oligochaetes
- Ms. Emily C. Whiteley, Department of Biology, Western Carolina University - Spiders
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