Turtle Movement Is Focus of Undergraduate Student Research
Paul Converse, an Alma College sophomore from Engadine, is one of 16
grant recipients from the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute through the
Undergraduate Research Grants for the Environment program.
The Pierce Cedar Creek Institute is a biological field station located south of Hastings.
The URGE program provides a $3,000 stipend for students conducting
summer research at the Institute, along with up to a $3,000 faculty
mentor stipend that can be used for equipment purchases, general
expenses, travel or training needed for conducting the research project.
Additionally, each grant award allows for up to $4,000 in room and
board expenses for the student and faculty mentor. Students will arrive
at the Institute in early May and stay through August.
Converse, a biology major, and his faculty mentor, biology professor
John Rowe, propose to study the activity, body temperature variation
and movements of Midland Painted Turtles at Pierce Cedar Creek
Institute’s Brewster Lake. Using radio telemetry, they plan to monitor
movements in order to determine the impact of weather patterns,
microhabitat use, and gender on activity and movements.
This is the third year of the URGE program.
“We are continuously amazed at the caliber of students who apply for
the research grant,” said Michelle Skedgell, executive director of the
Institute. “These students are the top-notch students at their home
institutions. Several of our researchers from the first summer are now
being accepted to graduate school or entering the workforce.”
Converse is the son of Danette and Joseph Converse of Engadine.
Posted: Thu, April 26th, 2007 at 4:24PM
