Western Front - 1998 May 15

              WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY VOLUME 104 ISSUE 13
FRIDAY
May 15,1998
BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON
Christopher Woitach, guitar, and Larry Holloway, bass, of the Julian MacDonough Quartet perform in the
Western Gallery. The quartet, one of four scheduled musical accompaniments to the "Seeing Jazz: Artist
Huxley students receive money from Audubon
By Jenni Odekirk
The Western Front
Dan Beard, senior vice president of the Audubon Society
and Western 1998 Distinguished Alumnus, presented a
$1,000 grant to graduate student Natalya Antonova.
The Audubon Society is a 550,000 member organization
focused on birds and the preservation of
their habitats.
The grant will enable Antonova to go to
northwestern Utah from June 15 to July 10
to study, with satellite imagery, the effects of
land-use change on the Ferruginous hawk.
•"The satellite equipment costs $1200,"
Antonova said. "The money will go directly
for that."
Antonova began studying the
Ferruginous hawk in 1996 when she was
working at the Bureau of Land
Management.
"They were studying the nesting habits of
the hawks," Antonova said. "The government is looking to
put them on the endangered species list, but it needs more
information."
Antonova said she asked the Audubon Society for fund­ing
because it does similar research in Utah.
Beard said when he and a colleague read Antonova's pro­posal,
the only word that came to their minds was "wow."
"It's a terrific proposal," Beard said.
During the presentation, Robert Monahan, professor
emeritus of geography and regional planning, gave six
Patrick L. Monahan geography scholarships.
Xuehua Zhang, a graduate student in geography with an
emphasis in natural resource concentration, received $2,000
each. Tyson Waldo, a graduate student in geography with
an emphasis in international natural
resources management, Michelle Watkins,
a geography major and an elementary
education student, and Eric Youngren, a
graduate student in geography with an
emphasis in outdoor and natural resource
education, received $1,000 each. Jennifer
Bell, a geography major with a resource
management emphasis, and Tim Schultz,
a graduate student in geography with a
resource management emphasis, received
$500 each.
The Patrick L. Monahan scholarship
fund was established by Robert Monahan
and his wife in memory of their son after he died in 1974 in
a drunk-driving accident. The first scholarship was given in
1975.
The Monahans, Western alumni, faculty and staff have
contributed to the fund over the years. The scholarships are
given to students based on their potential for contribution
in geography and regional planning, Monahan said.
"The government
is looking to put
(hawks) on the
endangered
species list..."
Dan Beard
Audubon Society
senior vice president
Marine center
research funded
By Matt Renschler
The Western Front
Western Washington University's Shannon Point
Marine Center has, once again, received funds from
the National Science Foundation, demonstrating its
recognizable educational merit within the scientific
community. The NSF has awarded Shannon Point
$545,000 to help it continue the Minorities in Marine
Science Undergraduate Program, which will extend
the program through 2004.
Each year, Shannon Point recruits eight minority
students from across the nation to study marine sci­ence
at its campus in Anacortes. These students learn
about the fields of marine science and ecology by par­ticipating
in laboratory and field research throughout
the school year. Money from the NSF pays for the stu­dents'
tuition, housing and travel expenses.
The NSF's decision to extend further funding to
Shannon Point was based upon the recognized suc­cess
of students who have completed the program.
Many graduates are already making contributions to
the field or pursuing higher education in graduate
schools.
Stephen Sulkin, a director at Shannon Point, said,
"This grant is the result of a highly competitive
process. Its renewal is a reflection of the hard work
and accomplishments of the student participants."
Apparently, the NSF has been especially impressed
with Shannon Point in recent months. Aside from
funding the Minorities in Marine Science
Undergraduate Program, the NSF has also decided to
continue financial support for other Shannon Point
programs. In June 1997, the NSF awarded Shannon
Point a $520,000 grant for the three-year program.
SEARUN's purpose is to involve undergraduates as
equal partners in coral biology research. It gives stu­dents
a chance to tackle a real-life problem and do real
research with the aid of various faculty members.
Gisele Muller-Parker, Jack Hardy and Suzanne Strom
comprise the faculty team that represents ecological,
photobiological, biochemical and optical fields of
research.
Erin Macri, a research technician and former
Shannon Point student emphasized the significance of
this cross-disciplinary group of researchers.
"What's really unique about this project is they're
looking at it from an interdisciplinary approach,"
Macri said.
Ultimately, it may be the comparisons between the
different aspects of the project that will be responsible
for its success.
The three-year long project examines the symbiotic
relationship between zooxanthelle (single-celled
algae) and corals, and the effect environmental stress-
See Grant, page 5
Photo courtesy of Shannon Point Marine Center website
A researcher at the center dives to collect samples.