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.”
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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