PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #11: Education: Post-graduate and Outreach.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC
105
Outreach by Hampton University students sponsored by SEEDS.
Spurill, Claudia*,1, Abraham, Barbara1, Bodolus, Deborah1, 1 Hampton University, Hampton, VA
ABSTRACT- The SEEDS (Strategies for Ecological Education, Sustainability and Development) Program funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through the UNCF and ESA is involved in efforts to recruit African American undergraduates into ecology. Components of the program include recruitment of students into ecological careers, increasing ecological awareness on campus, and the improvement of ecological education on campus. Exposure of students to environmental opportunities has been achieved through student participation in community clean-up activities, distribution of environmental awareness literature, and sponsorship of an Adopt-A-Spot/ Adopt-A-Stream area adjacent to campus by the Biology Club's Ecology Interest Group. The first author conducted outreach in Ms. Regina N. Gibbons' third-grade class at R.O. Nelson Elementary School, Newport News, VA. Twice a week, from early September until December, she delivered interactive environmental education using models, handouts, and outdoor/indoor "field trips". The SEEDS program has begun to expose increasing numbers of HU students to environmentally related problems and careers. Through outreach to schools and neighborhoods, the local community has benefited from the efforts of these students.
KEY WORDS: SEEDS, outreach, education, Hampton University