Whether seeking funds to attend a conference or support for an extensive research project, a graduate course offered every two years at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has proven to be several students� tickets for grant writing success.

Rick Wilke, a UW System distinguished professor in the College of Natural Resources at UWSP, teaches Natural Resources 760, a course in grant proposal development.

"We�re trying to make grant writing a less daunting and more systematic process for people seeking grants from foundations, corporations or the public sector," said Wilke. "With less government support for many worthwhile initiatives and programs, increasingly our students, staff and faculty are seeking monetary or in-kind support for a variety of needs."

During UWSP�s Winterim in January, 17 students participated in Wilke�s course. While many of the students were enrolled at UWSP, graduate and Ph.D. candidates from UW System and other Midwest campuses enrolled. This is the fourth time he has taught the course.

One of those students was Aaron Lehnert, a senior from Grafton. Majoring in urban forestry and forestry recreation, Lehnert has been awarded a $735 C.D. Besadny Conservation grant from the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. His grant was titled "Preserving Today�s Champion Trees for Tomorrow�s Students."

According to Lehnert, his project will have a lasting impact on both the campus and the greater community.

"Champion, older more mature trees, are being neglected not only on campus but throughout the community," said Lehnert. "Through this grant, UWSP�s Student Society of Arboriculture (SSA) will assist the campus and community in protecting these trees."

The SSA will select champion trees for sod removal and mulching, add protective fencing where needed and establish interpretive signs for each tree. According to Lehnert and the SSA, champion trees are designated as some of the largest trees of individual species in the state of Wisconsin. Some of these trees are over 100 years old; a few may even be 200 years in age.

Other successful grants have been written by Wilke�s students. Dana Churness of Wausau, a December 2001 graduate, received a $15,885 Alaska Conservation Foundation grant to help Alaskan natives better understand the connections between their economic well being and the conservation of their natural resources.

Another grant written by senior Colleen Robinson, Glidden, garnered $9,964 for the development of the "Roots and Shoots" environmental education program at two Wisconsin campuses. Through the program, college students provide environmental education to elementary students in surrounding communities.

Other funded proposals included one for recycling research and another to expand the Portage County Historical Society.

According to Wilke, more than 50 percent of the grants written and submitted by his students have been funded. The largest was $228,000 from the National Science Foundation.

During the course, each student must develop an actual proposal addressing a real need. Each step of the process is vigorously peer reviewed and critiqued and Wilke calls upon campus and area experts to help out.

Wilke has had over $10 million in grant proposals funded throughout his own career at UWSP.

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