Hello,

In late September Dragonfly held our first in-person Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) retreat since the pandemic began and welcomed leaders from our zoo and botanical garden AIP sites to campus. We cannot say enough great things about our AIP collaborators. They're helping to guide incredible Miami students, who are conducting important conservation projects in their communities. Thanks to all who traveled from throughout the country to the Oxford campus to engage in another productive, engaging retreat! Scroll down to see more retreat photos! And, of course, we hope you enjoy reading below about the great work of our Dragonfly students.

In the spirit of inquiry,

The Dragonfly Team

Mark your calendar...

Mark your calendar for International Education Week (IEW) in November and Global Initiatives' IEW events including an essay-video-photo contest. Last year's contest winners included four Global Field Program (GFP) graduate students: Kevin Browning, Cassie Klein, Ginger Levinson, and Kylee Yam. Read more.

"Respect the Locals" earns Maine SeaGrant

AIP graduate student Sue Perkins of Brunswick, Maine, was awarded a Maine SeaGrant to develop a pop-up educational booth, called "Respect the Locals," as part of her conservation outreach and AIP coursework. And last month Perkins presented about her graduate research on the presence of white sharks in the Gulf of Maine. Read more.

Passion for raptors earns student local scholarship

AIP graduate student Jennifer Redmond of Denver, Colorado, has received the Jerry Liguori Scholarship, which will help further her master’s work connecting her community to American kestrel conservation. Her passion for raptors began when she released a rehabilitated American kestrel. "Watching the male kestrel take flight and return to the wild was a thrill and shaped my future!" Read more.

Making climate change a big issue for young students

AIP graduate student Kylie Wash of New York, New York, focuses on climate change and young students in a recent article she wrote for Edutopia. "Community science cuts the anxiety of teaching climate change for me and my students, and it is more enriching than I ever imagined," she writes. Read more.

Marine policies in Baja California

GFP graduate student Alissa Eurell of Williamsburg, Virginia, explains how marine policies in Baja California, Mexico, have affected wildlife and the roles that local people play in conservation issues. In her article in SEVENSEAS Media, Eurell writes, "Concerns around socio-economics and the livelihood of locals need to be taken into consideration when putting restrictions on fisheries." Read more.

Toshiba grant award winner

AIP graduate student Heidi Edwards of Oakwood, Ohio, has been named a recipient of the 2022 Toshiba America Foundation grant. The funds will enable Edwards and her students to restore their school’s greenhouse. “Trading the brick walls of a classroom for glass, swapping textbooks for shovels and dirt ... are possibilities with the implementation of the greenhouse project," said Edwards. Read more.

APEX Award for environmental writing

AIP graduate student Meg Sczybra of Portland, Oregon, is a recipient of the 2022 APEX Grand Award for environmental writing. With more than 1,200 entries this year, just 100 winners were selected. Sczybra won for an article she wrote for the American Bankers Association Bank Compliance Magazine about the impacts of climate change to our global economy. ABA made her article the cover story, publicized it in their daily email, and provided it for free. Read more.

Dragonflies: Please keep us posted about your work!

If you are a Dragonfly student, alumni, instructional team member, or partner, have you presented at a conference, had a paper published, been awarded a fellowship, or received some other form of recognition? Has your local paper recognized a project you've been a part of? We know that you're doing great things, so we invite you to submit news for us to share through the Dragonfly share form.