Developing a Strategic Plan for Macalester College's Field Station, the Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area

麦卡莱斯特学院被授予赠款，以制定一个新的战略计划，为学院？Katharine Ordway自然历史研究区（KONHSA）的生物野外站。KONHSA成立于40多年前，拥有至少10个主要的植物群落，几个季节性和永久性的池塘和泉水，并毗邻密西西比河附近的一个回水湖。KONHSA？该中心位于快速扩张的大都市区，为研究人类活动对生态和地质过程的影响提供了独特的机会，并使其成为更大的教育、研究和保护网络的重要组成部分。该项目将包括一系列会议、讲习班、会晤和实地考察，重点是教育方案编制、研究机会、设施需求和实地台站的业务可持续性。一个全面的，为期18个月的规划过程将从事生物学，地质学，环境科学和地理学的研究人员，以刺激课程开发和研究机会的扩大，为学生和教师在麦卡莱斯特和其他地方学院。该项目还将调查是否可能参与合作生态研究网络，如五大湖和中部各州生态观测站（GLACEO），国家生态观测站网络（氖）的成员，和/或其他合作网络。规划过程还将邀请地区学校、明尼苏达州自然资源部、明尼苏达州污染控制局、国家公园管理局、明尼苏达州科学博物馆和市政府参与，以加强该站？与校外机构，教育工作者和政策专业人士的关系。

Macalester College is awarded a grant to develop a new strategic plan for the college?s biological field station at the Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area (KONHSA). Established over 40 years ago, KONHSA contains at least ten major plant communities, several seasonal and permanent ponds and springs, and abuts a backwater lake adjacent to the Mississippi River. KONHSA?s location within a rapidly expanding major metropolitan area provides unique opportunities to study the impacts of human activities on ecological and geological processes and makes it a valuable component of larger educational, research and conservation networks. This project will consist of a series of conferences, workshops, meetings, and site visits focused on educational programming, research opportunities, facilities needs, and operational sustainability for the field station. A comprehensive, 18-month planning process will engage researchers in biology, geology, environmental science, and geography to stimulate curriculum development and expansion of research opportunities for students and faculty at Macalester and other local colleges. The project will also investigate possible participation in collaborative ecological research networks such as the Great Lakes and Central States Ecological Observatory (GLACEO), a member of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), and/or other collaborative networks. The planning process will also engage area schools, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the National Park Service, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and municipal governments to strengthen the station?s relationship with off-campus agencies, educators, and policy professionals.