Chapter Directory > Alcorn State University
"ASU Campus Ecology Club" » Alcorn State, Mississippi
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The purpose of the ASU Campus Ecology Chapter is to promote ecology and enhance environmental awareness; to extend the boundaries of students' knowledge about nature and the safe-guarding of nature; to get students to cultivate interest in this important field; to make them aware of careers in ecology and give them the incentive to major in it; and to use it as a recruitment ploy or device for our Ecology/Environmental Biology curriculum. |
Plans for 2007-2008
- We will elect a new Ecology Club Queen.
- We will participate in homecoming and the coronation.
- We plan to go on one or two field trips.
- We will try to recruit more members.
2006-2007 Activities
- In Septemeber the Faculty Advisor took members of the Campus Ecology Club on a field trip to New Orleans to survey the damage done by Hurricane Katrina and also to collect some water samples for testing.
- The Campus Ecology Club members elected the Ecology Club Queen for 2006-2007. The Campus Ecology Chapter participated in the annual coronation of Miss Alcorn State University. Miss Yolanda Evans, the elected Ecology Queen, participated in the coronation and represented the Club.
- The Campus Ecology Club members went on a field trip to the Jackson Zoo. The students saw different animals in their modified habitats in the zoo. They learned a lot from the field trip. They also said that it was very rewarding and interesting.
- The Chapter celebrated Earth Day for the seventh time on the 22nd and 23rd of April 2007. Several activities were carried out. Some of the highlights were cleaning of the boys' and girls' rooms and dormitories. Prizes were awarded for the cleanest boy's and girl's room, cleanest boy's and girl's dormitory; best essay from middle school students of "How I would like to celebrate Earth Day." There were two official symposia on what is being done to protect the environment in Mississippi cities. The mayors of Hazlehurst, MS, Terry, MS and Crystal Springs, MS spoke and were given certificates. Display booths on the environment were set up by the Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. It was very well attended by the university community and high and middle school students.
- In July the Faculty Advisor hosted an Ecology Education Workshop for K-12 teachers through a grant of $5,000.00 from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and with the help of the Ecology club members. In April 2006, MDEQ awarded the Faculty Advisor a grant of $15,000.00 to host this workshop for three consecutive years.
- The club members attended the Mississippi Academy of Sciences annual meeting in Starkville, MS from February 21-24, 2007. One of the members, a major in ecology, Miss Tiffari Jenkins and Dr. Acholonu presented a paper entitled "Water Quality Studies on Freshwater Bodies in New Orleans, Louisiana After Hurricane Katrina."
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"Research and Field Trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, the Hurricane Katrina Devastated City" Special Project |
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Funded for September 2006, this project was a two-pronged activity. The first was to visit New Orleans and survey damage done by the hurricane
both at Southern University in New Orleans and other noteworthy areas of New Orleans. The second was to conduct an investigation on the freshwater bodies
in New Orleans suspected to be contaminated by collecting water samples from them and testing them for pollution. Water samples were collected
from Lake Pontchartrain, Golf Course Pond, and the Mississippi River and tested to see if they met the MS/EPA water quality criteria. This project was designed to widen the scope of
knowledge of ecology majors and Ecology Club members, arouse the interest of their fellow students to become Ecology Club members and possibly change their majors to ecology.
The field trip gave students the opportunity to see, experience, and assess the environmental damage done by Hurricane Katrina and to conduct water quality studies to know the extent to which freshwater bodies are polluted. Club members and ecology majors drove to New Orleans and were hosted by two faculty members from Southern University in New Orleans. Participants received introductory lectures from the hosts, toured areas of damage, collected water samples, and tested these samples for pollution against the EPA water quality criteria.
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"K-12 Teacher Workshop" Special Project |
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Participants included twenty teachers drawn from eleven schools in the vicinity of the university. The activities carried out included lectures on various ecological topics by experts, a field trip to the Alcorn State University water plant and waste water treatment plant, and discussions. |
Funded twice, for July 2003 and July 2004, these summer workshops presented teachers with a comprehensive plan to integrate environmental science/ecology education into their respective existing curriculum and to increase the representation of African-Americans in environmental science/ecology careers. The workshops served as a recruitment strategy for the biology department and the university at large; aimed to encourage some of the K-12 teachers to initiate their MS degree work in ecology; and will serve as a stepping stone for running a summer institute in the future.Faculty Advisor |
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Alex D.W. Acholonu, PhD |
