CACE Map

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Thank you, thank you!

It has been a couple of weeks since the SciFund Challenge has finished raising money for science research. Of the 75 projects that were featured in this round, 33 of them were fully funded, INCLUDING MINE! An astonishing $100,275 was raised by all 75 projects. It is amazing to know that people support science to this degree and that their donations are possibly going to contribute to breakthrough in some science-related field. Support is needed to further the education of the world in the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math). The most important and significant audience to promote STEM projects to are children of all ages. Their education in these subjects can make for a better world in the future and we need to encourage and support their interest in these subjects.

My project was successfully funded through the help of 22 contributors in total and donations didn’t stop coming in until the very end. I am extremely grateful to all of people that donated and your support will not go unappreciated. Here is an infographic showing the success of the project in its entire 31 day span.

I thanked some of the contributors in my last post, but I also want to mention the other four people that helped my project finish strong:
-Marc Cadotte
-Harrison Davies
-Tom Beauvais, who donated the difference in the second to last day to get my project to the 100% mark
-my mentor and geography “converter,” Irene Naesse (I wouldn’t be where I am today without you!)

Thank you for all of your support!

Today would mark the first day of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in Bontio, Brazil. I wish I could be there with my adviser, Dr. Jennifer Balch, but I will be following the happenings closely and hopefully, by this time next year I will be in Brazil doing research for my thesis.

Above all, I am giddy to start my first year in the amazing Geography Department at Penn State. Orientation Week is scheduled for August 20-24, the week before classes start. Here I will be able to meet my fellow classmates and the faculty and staff, as well as sign up for the classes I will be taking in the fall. Until then, I will be reading as many papers and doing as much background research as I can get in so that I can start off the school year with a bang.

I will try my very best to keep this blog up to date with the events and happenings in my grad school experience, so feel free to subscribe via e-mail to the blog’s posts by using the “FOLLOW” button on the right hand side of the page.

Until next time… Best wishes!

Halfway There!

So we are just about half way through the first month of the SciFund Challenge and I am thrilled that my project is 74% funded! It’s amazing to know that so many people have supported what I want to do and have donated to helping me achieve my goals. It’s very rewarding for me to get the e-mails that are sent out when a new contribution has been made and see the progress that has been made in just two short weeks. Below is a graphic that shows the success of my project so far:

I want to take the time and thank those that have contributed to my project:
-Stacy Hespanha
-SE Hampton
-The Webster Family
-Jen Kochanski
-Bill Kerwin
-Aaron Berdanier
-Rye
-Gene Farrell
-Nancy Baron
-Barbara Bond and Lynda Fountain
-Amy Stevens
-The Houlihan Family
-Joyce Black
-Brandon Oosterhoff
-Martha Parham
-my adviser, Jennifer Balch
and of course…
-Mom, Dad and my brother, Cory! (Love you guys!)

I can’t thank you guys enough!

I also want to take a minute and praise the people of the SciFund Challenge because without them my success would not even be a possibility. The founders of the SciFund Challenge, Dr. Jai Ranganathan and Dr. Jarrett Byrnes, have given scientists the opportunity to explore their interests and make a difference in the world with the help of the general public through “crowdfunding.” I am so grateful that I was introduced to the SciFund Challenge and I would encourage anyone with a scientific project to use the SciFund Challenge to raise funds and to expose their their research to the general public while encouraging public interaction and outreach. To learn more about the SciFund Challenge visit their website HERE.

Thank you all again and I will keep you posted with more of the project details!

Let’s Get Started!

Woohoo! I’m thrilled that my blog is up and running, even if it is pretty bare at the moment.

Today, I am also excited to announce that my SciFund Challenge project is live and ready for funding. For anyone who doesn’t know about the SciFund Challenge, it is an amazing opportunity for scientists to raise money for their research by campaigning to the general public for fundraising. My project will focus on fire in the Amazonian transitional forests where fire has become more and more prevalent and where there is the potential for certain species to beat out others due to their specific fire adaptations. Click HERE to learn more about the project I would like to start and how you could help. If you contribute more than $10 to my project you will be able to get updates on the progress of my project on this blog and on our lab’s Twitter account.

I’m really excited to get started! Here we go!