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COSTA
RICA
Kurt
Rasmussen
Kurt majored in
Water Resources, with a
minor in
Soil Science.
His ambassadorship, The Sarapiquí
River Project,
took him to north-central
Costa Rica in May 2004 to assist in water monitoring training workshops
and to collect and analyze water samples to help develop assessment reports
for water quality in the Sarapiquí River that will
then be used as teaching supplements in the U.S. and Costa Rica. Kurt also received a Kramer Family GEM
International Studies Scholarship and the Byron Shaw Scholarship. Kurt's
project advisor is CNR Water Quality Specialist
Nancy Turyk.
GUATEMALA
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Verónica
Alba & Jesse Majerus
Verónica and Jesse spent fall semester 2006 in
Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala assisting the
local government with a water quality study and the
 Institución
Mam de Desarrollo Integral
(Mam Institute for Integrated Development - IMDI),1 a
local NGO, with a stream bank stabilization project along the Río Limón.
Tiffany, a Watershed Management major with a Spanish minor, led the
water project, which focused on sampling tap water from throughout the
community and then testing water from the source s prings
for tap water samples that tested positive for coliform bacteria. Jesse,
a Forestry major, led the stream bank stabilization project, which
consisted of evaluating erosion potential on several slopes and then
identifying appropriate vegetation for subsequent planting in summer
2007. Both students also took intensive Spanish classes in September at
the
Academía Hispanomaya
(Hispanomaya Language School). The projects were directed by GEM
researcher Brian Kermath and guided by
Desiderio Martín of IMDI with additional assistance from GEM water
specialist Wes Halverson.
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Tiffany Short
Tiffany, a junior in Watershed Management with a Spanish minor, spent fall
semester 2005 in Todos Santos Cuchumatán,
Guatemala assisting the
Institución Mam de Desarrollo Integral
(Mam Institute for Integrated
Development -
IMDI),1 a
local NGO,
with its efforts at managing the Río
Limón
watershed. Tiffany focused on two specific projects: 1) to map land use/land
cover along a stretch of the
Río Limón
from just above the town to the lower end of town; and 2) to draft a proposal
for IMDI to construct a large
rain harvest tank in the highlands near the village of Chichim. Tiffany
also took an intensive Spanish class at the beginning of her stay in Todos
Santos at the
Academía
Hispanomaya (Hispanomaya Language School). She was guided in Guatemala
by IMDI
President
Desiderio Martín
and her project was directed by GEM researcher Brian Kermath.
Quote from Tiffany: "It was the best
experience of my life."
1 Note:
"Mam" is a Mayan language spoken by a majority of the people in Todos Santos
Cuchumatán.
For an introduction to the Mam language click
HERE.
GUYANA
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Ben Bishop
Ben, a junior majoring in
Environmental Education and Interpretation, spent July and August 2005 at
the
Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation
and Development in central Guyana, South
America.
Ben's
assignment was to assess the
quality of the information presented by nature guides and perform a risk assessment
of the Centre's trail system. Ben also assisted
in the development and maintenance of the trails. As an integral
part of a forest management plan, a well managed trail system can provide
access to recreational sites, nature observation sites, and a variety of other
destinations. A well-planned forest
trail system should be designed to provide the specific
recreational activities desired by the Centre at the highest quality level
possible; provide users a way to experience a variety of environments, seasons, and modes of travel; minimize or eliminate conflicting and
non-compatible activities; provide adequate facilities for user
convenience, safety, and comfort; and provide quality interpretive
information.
Quote from Ben while in the field: "I am
having the best time of my life."
Mexico
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Ashley Atkinson - Puebla
Ashley, a senior with a double
major in Environmental Education/Interpretation and Secondary Education, traveled to
Mexico
in July 2005 to work on an environmental education teacher exchange for GEM's Global Environmental
Teachings (GET) Program. Ashley’s project focused on the Zempoala
River Watershed of Northern Puebla (Map)
and
incorporated her interests in teaching, environmental education, and
photography. Ashley's project was
coordinated through GEM's GET program and was guided
by UWSP environmental education professor
Dan Sivek, GET Program
Coordinator Susan Ermer, and UACh forestry professor
Edgardo
Hernández Vázquez.
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Emily Lain - Puebla
Emily, a
senior majoring in Forest
Ecosystem
Restoration
and Management,
 spent
most of the summer of 2005 in Mexico. After taking several weeks
of intensive Spanish
at the Universidad Autónoma
de Chapingo (UACh),
Emily focused her work on gathering
baseline data on the biota and land use and land cover of the
Zempoala River Watershed of northern Puebla
(Map)
as part of a
larger capacity building initiative in the town of
Zapotitlán
de Méndez
(click photo at left). Emily's
project was coordinated through
GEM's Sustainable
Communities Network
and the Forestry
Management Department at UACh
and her
work was guided by
UACh forestry professor
Edgardo
Hernández Vázquez
in the field and GEM Research Associate Brian Kermath at UWSP.
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Julie Milliren - Nuevo León
Julie, a senior majoring in Forest Ecosystem Restoration and Management, spent most of the summer of
2005 in Mexico studying Spanish and working on an applied restoration project
in Mexico's northeastern state of Nuevo
León. After taking a month-long
intensive Spanish course
at the Universidad Regiomontana
in the city of Monterrey,
Julie spent the rest of the summer assisting with a restoration project of the
matorral vegetation ecosystem in the
semiarid region of eastern Nuevo León
near the town of General Bravo. The project involved
constructing and maintaining on-contour water-harvest furrows (or swales) on
private ranches, mapping, monitoring
of reintroduced white-tail deer (Odocoileus
virginianus mexicanus) and other wildlife, and developing a project
website for the Centro
de Calidad Ambiental at Monterrey
Technological University and GEM's Sustainable Communities Network. Her
fieldwork was part of a larger project run, and supervised by forest ecology
professor
Mario
Manzano of Monterrey Tech.
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Veronique
Van Gheem - Oaxaca
Veronique is majoring in Forest Ecosystem Restoration and
Management and is now in
Oaxaca for the fall 2005 semester. After taking an intensive Spanish
course in Oaxaca City, Veronique moved to the village of Santiago
Comaltepec in the Río
Grande Watershed of the Sierra Norte (click photo at right) to participate in a forest restoration project run
by the Oaxacan based NGO, Estudios Rurales y Asesoría
Campesina (ERA).
As part of
GEM's Sustainable Communities Network, this project will help kick off
the
U.S. AID funded ALO/TIES collaborative sustainable watershed
management project between GEM, ERA, the
Universidad Autónoma
de Chapingo,
and Monterrey
Technological University.
Veronique's fieldwork is being being guided by biologist Clarisa Jiménez
and forester Gonzalo
Hernández
of ERA.
PERU
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Angie Arkin
Angie is a senior Waste
Management major with interests in composting and sustainable agriculture. Her work will
be based in
 the Quechua-speaking Eco-Village of Ccachupata, a
sustainability
project near Cusco in Andean Peru. Angie is currently in Cusco studying
Spanish will spend the rest of the Fall 2005 semester in
Ccachupata assisting the
Center for
Construction with Earth and Sustainable Development (Centro
de
Estudios
 para la
Edificación con Tierra y el Desarrollo
Sostenible - CEETyDeS)
and Ccachupata residents
expand the
community's
composting, waste management,
and irrigation
systems. As part her program, Angie also participated in a
Permaculture
course in California and will take an intensive
Spanish course in
Cusco. Angie's project
advisors are
CEETyDeS Executive Director
Antonio Bueno in Peru
and GEM Sustainable Communities Program
Director
Brian Kermath at UWSP in the U.S.
Click
HERE
for a presentation by Antonio Bueno on the project.
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Sarah Orlofske
A senior majoring in Wildlife Ecology and
Management, Sarah’s ambassadorship, Amphibian Population Monitoring and
Ecotourism, took her to
Reserva Amazónica on the Madre de Diós
River in southern Amazonian Peru. As part of a larger project by UWSP biology
professor Eric Wild, Sarah's project focused on the decline of Neotropical
amphibians and developing interpretive materials on herpetofauna for Reserva
Amazónica.
Additional information:
Global
Amphibian Assessment Report &
Disappearing Jewels, an article from
NatureServe.
PUERTO
RICO
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Susan Ermer
A Master's student in
Environmental Education, Susan's
ambassadorship, An Evaluation
of an International Environmental Education Program for Teachers,
is part of GEM's
Program for Global Environmental Teachings (GET), which
Susan coordinates. Susan
traveled to Puerto Rico in July 2004 to help implement and evaluate a model for an
international environmental education program that has allowed
Wisconsin and Puerto Rican teachers to share their
experiences and learn from one another. Susan was co-supervised by CNR
Environmental Education Professors
Dan Sivek and
Dennis Yockers.
Teachers
gathered at the huge buttress
of
a large
kapok tree,
 or
Ceiba
pentandra as it
is known by its Latin binomial.
Click the group picture for a
larger version and
HERE
for more project photos.
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Kelly Mumm
Kelly is a junior majoring in Forest Restoration and Management. Her ambassadorship
focused on forest restoration using
native plant species at
Hacienda Verde, a private reserve in the
karst mountains of
west-central
Puerto Rico
during the summer of 2005. Staff from Hacienda Verde and personnel from El
Yunque, The Caribbean National Forest of the USDA
Forest Service guided Kelly's
reforestation efforts and CNR
Forestry professors
Les Werner
and
Richard Geesey advised her from UWSP.
SOUTH
AFRICA
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Mark
Breunig
Mark is a junior majoring in
Watershed Hydrology and Management.
The field portion of his ambassadorship,
The
Development of a Watershed
Management Strategy for the Kat River
Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa, took
place during the Spring 2005 semester in a water-scarce region of South Africa.
He participated in an innovative study to develop and apply methods for
establishing a cooperative water management strategy for the region that may
be applied elsewhere in South Africa. Mark also received a Kramer Family
GEM International Studies Scholarship. Mark's mentor is Water Quality
Specialist
Nancy Turyk. For photographs of
Mark's experience click
HERE &
HERE.
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Chad
Heimerl
Chad is a senior
majoring in Watershed Management with a
minor in Soil Sciences. Chad’s
ambassadorship, The Development
of a Watershed Management Strategy, Kat River Valley,
Eastern Cape, South Africa,
took him to a water-scarce region of South Africa
for the Spring 2005 semester to participate in an innovative pilot project to develop and
apply methods for establishing a cooperative water management strategy for the
region. Chad
's
GEM Student Ambassador award was supplemented with a Kramer Family
International Studies Scholarship. Chad's mentor is GEM Watershed Program Manager
Wes Halverson.
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Edward
Moye
Ed is a junior
Water Resources major. His
ambassadorship, the
Four Corners
Biodiversity
Survey, took him
to Rhodes University in
Grahamstown, South Africa
during the summer of 2004 to assist in an aquatic biodiversity
assessment of the Upper
Zambezi River
system as part of the development of a sustainable resource management plan. (A general report of the larger project, in
PDF format, is available
HERE from the
South
African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity.) Ed also received a Kramer Family GEM
International Studies Scholarship. Ed's CNR mentor was Professor
Bryant Browne and his advisor in
Grahamstown was
Rhodes University Professor
Paul Skelton.
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Paul
Vanderford
Paul, a Master's student in Land Use Planning, currently is
in South Africa where he is working on a project titled
The Development
of a Watershed Management Strategy for the Kat River Valley, Eastern Cape,
South Africa. With a strong interest in land use and resource management, Paul will
focus his Master's thesis around this project. Paul's Ambassadorship mentor is
GEM Watershed Program Manager
Wes Halverson
and his graduate advisor is CNR Land Use Professor
Anna Haines.
SOUTH PACIFIC
Justin Barrick
Justin is a sophomore majoring in
Watershed
Hydrology and Management with a minor in
Geographic Information Systems. Justin’s ambassadorship, An
Assessment of Microbial Contamination in
Cooks and Opunohu Bays on the French
Polynesian Island of Moorea west of Tahiti, took him to the South
Pacific in January, 2005 to assess microbial contamination of surface water.
His research will help identify possible causes of contamination to residents
and help with an education campaign on the connection between land use, water
quality, and human health. Justin also received a Kramer Family GEM
International Studies Scholarship. Justin's mentor was CNR Professor
Ron Crunkilton.
UNITED STATES
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Nelli Atkinson
- Alaska
Nelli, an
Environmental
Education and Interpretation Master's student, developed an Interpretive and Educational Plan for the Thorne Bay Ranger District in the
Tongass National Forest in Alaska for her ambassadorship. During the summer of
2004, Nelli traveled to
Prince of Wales Island in the Tongass where she worked with
USDA Forest
Service staff to develop an educational and interpretive plan for the
Thorne Bay Ranger District.
Nelli also received the Bonnie Clark Student
Explorer Award. Nelli's ambassadorship mentor and thesis advisor is CNR
Emeritus Professor
Michael Gross. A copy of the executive summary
Nelli wrote for her project with photographs is available HERE
(in pdf format).
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Rebecca Mattano
- Wisconsin
Rebecca is an
Environmental
Education and Interpretation Master's student working with the
Center for Land Use
Education on the development of a
Creative Land Use Series for Teachers
and Educator Resources
(CLUSTERor
her ambassadorship. The innovative project consists of a comprehensive land
use environmental education guide accompanied by an on-line training
course. Rebecca anticipates that CLUSTER will become a recognized
framework — locally, nationally, and internationally — for educator training and
will bring visibility to land use
issues and concepts into K-12 curricula. Rebecca also received awards from the
Wisconsin Environmental Education Board and the Environmental Protection
Agency. Her ambassadorship mentor and graduate advisor is Land Use Professor
Anna Haines,
Director of the Center for Land
Use Education.
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Jessica
Orlofske
-
Wisconsin
Jessica, a senior majoring in Wildlife management
and Biology, conducted a research project titled Odonate species (dragonflies
and damselflies) diversity as an indicator of anthropogenic perturbations
of wetlands in southeastern Wisconsin. Her research
focused on determining whether or not Odonates could be used reliably as
effective bioindicators of human disturbances in a variety of wetland
environments in southeastern Wisconsin near Milwaukee. Jessica’s mentor was CNR Wildlife Professor
Eric Anderson. Click
HERE for a presentation
(in PDF format) that Jessica delivered on her research. For more on Odonates click
HERE or
HERE. For additional information on Odonates as bioindicators click
HERE or
HERE.
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Brian
Wahl -
Wisconsin
Brian is an Urban Forestry
Master's student.
His project (which
is currently underway), titled
Urban Tree Throughfall and Litter Leachate Contributions to Phosphorous
Loading of Urban Runoff, is an examination of the
effects of varying degrees of canopy cover on phosphorous loading from
overland flow in urban residential landscapes of central Wisconsin. Brian's
advisor is Urban Forestry
Professor
Les Werner.
Like what you see? Click
HERE for Current Opportunities and
apply today.
You could be
one of the next student ambassadors.
Awards
cover project costs including all transportation, room and board,
project-related supplies, and medical insurance.
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Check
often for updates and contact
Ron Tschida
with questions.
The GEM Student Ambassador Program is funded by the
United
States Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
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