Franklin Pierce Receives National Science Foundation Grant

Franklin Pierce University has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant totaling $649,931. The funding is to promote increased academic success and job or graduate school placement, over the next five years, among academically talented low-income students pursuing baccalaureate degrees in biology and environmental science.

According to Dr. James DuMond, University Provost, a $424,000 of the NSF grant will fund scholarships to undergraduate students in a newly created, biology and environmental science training program, which uses more than 1,000 acres of undeveloped land on the campus as a living laboratory.

According to Rhine Singleton, professor of biology and environmental science, the campus provides faculty and students with unique research opportunities. "We have the luxury of being able to study a half-dozen kinds of ecosystems in just a short walk from our science building. So instead of taking time to drive to a field site during a lab, we can use that time to deliver content and do in-depth research. It makes it super easy for students to get hands-on experience doing fieldwork--and it has allowed us to set up research plots in the natural environment of campus that our students have access to, just by walking to them."

Singleton, the principal investigator on the NSF grant application, says the funding will also help students in the sciences explore professional opportunities, through job-shadowing opportunities and attendance at professional conferences.

Additional resources from the grant will help the University use research data in new ways to measure and increase the effectiveness of STEM education programs on the undergraduate level.

"This award is an important milestone for the University, which has received NSF funding in the past, but not of this type or scope," says Dr. Kim Mooney, President of Franklin Pierce University. "The grant reflects an endorsement of the hard work and successes of our science faculty and the potential of our very talented students. It will help us in our ongoing efforts to better integrate educational experiences in the classroom, in the lab, and in the field."