Planning Grant for Program and Facility Enhancement at Lacawac Sanctuary

富兰克林和马歇尔学院因一项规划研究而获奖，该研究将在未来5至10年内举办两次研讨会，以扩大拉卡瓦克庇护所现有的研究、教育和公共推广计划和设施。拉卡瓦克保护区是一个206公顷的自然保护区，距离140所高等学府不到100英里。拉卡瓦克保护区毗邻众多学院和大学，其中许多是城市大学，这使得拉卡瓦克保护区成为进行研究和教授课程的理想场所，目的是了解自然世界。保护区提供：1)一个原始的天然湖泊(拉卡瓦湖)，研究人员和学生可以在其中进行测量、采集样本和进行实验；2)一个作业基地，提供拉卡瓦湖和整个波科诺斯湖其他地点的住宿和实验室设施；3)森林和分水岭研究保护区，包括在该保护区内建立的两个白尾鹿保护区，用于对浏览器的影响进行长期研究；4)保护区工作人员，包括一名执行主任、行政助理、志愿者支助工作人员和暑期实习生；以及5)湖泊物理、化学和生物数据以及天气和太阳数据的长期数据库。这里提出的规划进程将汇集具有广泛兴趣的利益攸关方，包括水生和陆地研究、K-12和学院/大学层面的教育和公共宣传，以及拉卡瓦的主要行政人员，为实现以下具体目标举行两次讲习班：1)通过改进环境数据集的获取和管理、为研究人员提供支持服务和实验室设施，将拉卡瓦培育为区域生态研究中心；2)通过在学年期间为大学一级的实地考察提供资源，并在夏季为学生和K-12教师开发课程，来加强教育计划，以及3)让研究人员参与为公众制定关于紧迫的生态问题的外联计划。

Franklin and Marshall College is granted an award for a planning study is to conduct two workshops to expand the existing research, educational, and public outreach programs and facilities at Lacawac Sanctuary over the next 5 to 10 years. Lacawac Sanctuary is a 206 hectare nature preserve located within 100 miles of 140 institutions of higher learning. This proximity to so many Colleges and Universities, many of them urban, makes Lacawac Sanctuary an ideal place to conduct research and teach courses with the goal of understanding the natural world. The sanctuary offers: 1) a pristine, natural lake (Lake Lacawac) in which researchers and students can make measurements, collect samples, and perform experiments; 2) a base of operations offering lodging and laboratory facilities for sampling both Lake Lacawac and other sites throughout the Poconos; 3) protected areas for forest and watershed studies, including two white-tailed deer exclosures set-up on the property for long-term studies of browser impacts; 4) a sanctuary staff including an Executive Director, Administrative Assistant, volunteer support staff, and summer interns; and 5) long-term databases of physical, chemical and biological lake data, and weather and solar data. The planning process proposed here will bring together stakeholders with a broad range of interests, including aquatic and terrestrial research, K-12 and college/university-level education, and public outreach, as well as key Lacawac administrators for two workshops to achieve the following specific goals: 1) cultivate Lacawac as regional center for ecological research by improving the acquisition and management of environmental datasets, support services for researchers, and laboratory facilities, 2) enhance the educational program by providing resources for university-level field trips during the academic year and developing courses for students and K-12 teachers during the summer, and 3) engage researchers in the development of outreach programs for the public on pressing ecological issues.