Weber State University
AC-10: Support for Research

Weber State University has an Office of Undergraduate Research that awards funding and supplied mentoring for student projects. One example is the Rio Tinto funding, which support students and was used to send students to Mexico to collect data on American Avocets and Snowy Plover wintering there. It was also used to pay a student to assist in translating ornithology material into Spanish for students in Mexico. It will also fund students working this summer on a research project. We are currently being funded through the UT Division of Water Quality to monitor shorebird eggs for both selenium and mercury contamination in Gilbert Bay of Great Salt Lake. USGS funded us to address the same questions at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Kennecott is funding us to study the potential environmental impacts to wetland bird populations if/when their tailings facility is expanded. CH2MHill, a consulting firm, hired us to examine bird use along the Kennecott tailings drain. The tailings drain has high concentrations of selenium and thus can potential impact shorebird reproduction if they are found nesting at the site. We were funded last year to examine how and where Snowy Plovers use the US Magnesium facility on the west side of the lake. That site is a candidate for listing as a Superfund site due to PCB and dioxin contamination. Finally, we are completing a multi-year study looking at the eutrophication of Farmington Bay. Sewage effluent and its high nutrient content has resulted in Farmington Bay being considered as an impaired water body by the US EPA. Consequently, we are conducting a multi-site study to compare the effects on the productivity, diets and condition of waterfowl, and shorebirds using this wetland. This study has been supported by a number of different entities including US EPA, UT Div of Water Quality but most recently by South Davis Sewer District. WSU also received Urban Migratory Bird Treaty funding we received through the USFWS. This is involving a large number of students from WSU. For example, an ecology class is working with Mound Fort Junior High to help their students create a schoolyard habitat for birds. All of these projects support students as researchers and technicians. Please see: http://faculty.weber.edu/jcavitt/undergraduateresearch.htm and http://departments.weber.edu/avianecologylab/aelprojects.htm In 2012 the WSU Environmental Issues Committee created a Student Sustainability Research Award Program. This award is awarded annually to the student who produces the best sustainability-related research project in the previous academic year. Applicants are asked to provide a 250-word summary abstract of their research, including an explanation of how the research relates to the WSU Definition of Sustainability Research, along with an indication of how their work impacts the WSU community and the world beyond WSU. Submissions are reviewed by a committee supervised by the Faculty Senate Environmental Issues Committee, consisting of seven members drawn from the seven colleges and a member of the WSU administration (e.g. Dean, Associate Provost, Provost). Committee members ideally will have demonstrated expertise in the field of sustainability. The first student award was awarded in April, 2012. For further details see http://www.weber.edu/WSUImages/environment/Spring2012.pdf

In 2012 the WSU Environmental Issues Committee created a Faculty Sustainability Research Award Program. This award is awarded annually to the faculty member who produces the best sustainability-related research project in the previous academic year. Applicants are asked to provide a 600-word summary abstract of their research, including an explanation of how the research relates to the WSU Definition of Sustainability Research, along with an indication of how their work impacts the WSU community and the world beyond WSU. Submissions are reviewed by a committee supervised by the Faculty Senate Environmental Issues Committee, consisting of seven members drawn from the seven colleges and a member of the WSU administration (e.g. Dean, Associate Provost, Provost). Committee members ideally will have demonstrated expertise in the field of sustainability. The first faculty award was awarded in April, 2012. For further details see http://www.weber.edu/WSUImages/environment/SustainabilityResearchAward/Faculty%20Sustainability%20Research%20Award%20Flyer.pdf