<< Back 12/18/02 Major grant awarded for science education in the Smokies SMN The Burroughs Wellcome Fund will provide a three-year, $165,100 grant to support science education programs for middle and high school students on the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The grant was secured by Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a non-profit organization that raises funds and recruits volunteers for park projects and programs. The three-year project will include educational programs for a total of 2,100 middle school students and paid internships for 36 high school students. Activities will be based out of the park’s Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center at Purchase Knob, near Maggie Valley. The house and 530 acres at Purchase Knob were donated to the National Park Service by Voit Gilmore and Kathryn McNeil, an emeritus board member of Friends of the Smokies. “The students will conduct real research projects that will contribute to their own studies and educational development,” said Paul Super, science coordinator at the Purchase Knob facility. “At the same time, their efforts will help improve our understanding of the Great Smoky Mountains and similar ecosystems.” The grant will help expand the middle school offerings of the popular Parks as Classrooms program, which cultivates students’ awareness and interest in critical park issues and various fields of science. The middle school programs will also encourage a wider and more diverse applicant pool for a new summer high school internship program. The interns will work in small groups and interact with visiting scientists on the study of plants, animals, insects, fungi, air quality, and more. Park staff will release further information on the summer high school internship program in late winter. Based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund is an independent, non-profit foundation that supports research, scientific, and educational activities. Founded in 1955, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund awards almost $35 million in grants annually. The grant to Friends of the Smokies is part of the fund’s Student Science Enrichment Program, which supports creative science education activities for middle and high school students in North Carolina. “This is by far the largest grant we have received to support science education programs at the new Science Learning Center,” said Jim Hart, Friends of the Smokies executive director. “We are very grateful to the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for their generous donation.”