Trish Barker

The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has awarded funding to three teams of faculty and staff to advance innovative ideas that aim to improve student experiences, from incorporating one-on-one mentorship with teaching to offering Illinois undergrads and incarcerated individuals the opportunity to learn together. One of the teams awarded funding includes chemistry instructional faculty member Elise McCarren, who is director of the Chemistry Merit Program.

Laura Algeo, coordinator of Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Cooperating Technical Partners Program, recently praised the Water Survey’s accomplishments as a Cooperating Technical Partner, including improving the flood mapping process in Illinois by streamlining the state process with the federal process to ensure there is maximum coordination with communities and developing accurate, easily accessible flood data for every county in Illinois.

When it came to earning their Silver Award, which encourages scouts to complete a project that helps their community, Girl Scout Troop 51978 from Westmont, Illinois, decided to support bat conservation. They contacted Illinois Natural History Survey associate mammalogist Tara Hohoff, who coordinates the Illinois Bat Conservation Program and conducts bat surveys for the Urban Biotic Assessment program (UBAP). Illinois’ 13 bat species fill an important role in our ecosystem.