Planning Grant for Program and Facility Enhancement at Lacawac Sanctuary

富兰克林和马歇尔学院被授予一项规划研究奖，该研究将在未来5到10年内开展两次研讨会，以扩大拉卡瓦克保护区现有的研究、教育和公共宣传项目和设施。拉卡瓦克保护区是一个占地206公顷的自然保护区，位于140所高等院校的100英里范围内。拉卡瓦克保护区靠近许多学院和大学，其中许多是城市的，这使得拉卡瓦克保护区成为进行研究和教授以了解自然世界为目标的课程的理想场所。保护区提供：1)一个原始的天然湖泊（拉卡瓦克湖），研究人员和学生可以在其中进行测量，收集样本和进行实验；2)为拉卡瓦克湖和整个波科诺地区的其他地点提供住宿和实验室设施的操作基地；3)森林和流域研究保护区，包括两个白尾鹿保护区，用于长期研究浏览器的影响；4)包括执行董事，行政助理，志愿者支持人员和暑期实习生在内的庇护所工作人员；5)物理、化学和生物湖泊数据、天气和太阳数据的长期数据库。这里提出的规划过程将汇集具有广泛利益的利益相关者，包括水生和陆地研究，K-12和学院/大学水平的教育，以及公众宣传，以及拉卡瓦克的主要管理人员，参加两个讲习班，以实现以下具体目标：1)通过改善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，将拉卡瓦克培养成为区域生态研究中心；2)通过在学年期间提供大学水平的实地考察资源，并在夏季为学生和K-12教师开发课程，加强教育计划；3)让研究人员参与针对紧迫生态问题的公众推广计划。

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.