November 3, 2014

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center Receives 3M Eco Grant to Expand Project OspreyTrack



Squam Lakes Natural Science Center has been awarded a $33,264 3M Eco Grant to enhance Project OspreyTrack, a multi-year project that uses the tracking of Ospreys with GPS satellite backpacks as a teaching tool to foster awareness and understanding of bird migrations. Specifically the grant will allow the Science Center to create an eastern flyway network through participating nature centers and schools in 15 states from New Hampshire to Florida through which migrating Ospreys pass on their way from northern New England to South America. Curriculum materials will be created and disseminated and students will communicate and share their experience with Ospreys in their state as well as network with schools and nature institutions in Europe, Africa and South America. Other funding partners include Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH), which has helped fund the project since its inception in 2011, Jane B. Cook 1983 Charitable Trust, Meredith Bay Colony Club, and the Science Center’s own Innovative Project Fund.

Iain MacLeod, Executive Director of the Science Center and Project OspreyTrack leader is thrilled to be able to expand the project to other states. “This state-of-the-art technology provides near real-time tracking of these birds as they make their dangerous journeys from New Hampshire to South America, and allows exciting teaching opportunities for people of all ages,” he said. “Expanding what we have done in New Hampshire to all the states along the migration route has always been a goal of the project. Although the birds we tag nest here in New Hampshire, they rely on waterways (Ospreys are fish eaters) in every state they pass though and end up island hopping through the Caribbean and spend half their lives in South America – many in the Amazonian rainforest. So they are international travelers that know no boundaries,” added MacLeod. 

3Mgives is awarding almost $400,000 to 10 organizations with its 2014 Eco Grants, which are aimed at connecting kids to nature and improving environmental and conservation education for youth. Since 2001, 3M’s environmental giving program has invested more than $25 million in sustainability initiatives as part of the company’s vision of improving every life. The 2014 grant recipients are nonprofit organizations located in communities near a 3M facility. Recipients were selected based on criteria, which include: connecting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education with outdoor learning opportunities, improving environmental and conservation education, and increasing student visits and teacher preparedness—thereby extending the learning beyond a single visit.  

“3M is pleased to support innovative ideas that create energy and excitement around learning,” said Kim Price, vice president of 3M.  “We are committed to supporting initiatives that enhance environmental education through hands-on experiences with nature.”

About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products.  Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better.  3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing.  With $30 billion in sales, 3M employs 88,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.

About 3Mgives
Since 1953, 3M and the 3M Foundation have invested $1.3 billion in cash and products around the world. 3M’s investment in communities where the company operates reflects the philosophy and practice of the governing principles they have operated by since 1908.  For more information, visit www.3Mgives.com or follow@3Mgives on Twitter.




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