Honors Thesis Grants
If you are a junior who plans to begin work on an honors thesis over the summer (or this spring), $500 grants are available from the Honors Program to support research costs. See the link below if you are interested.
Experience graduate level Public Administration Courses at UNC
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2019 Archaeological Field School Forum
On February 7th (2/7) at 5pm in Alumni 207.
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SPRING 2019 HONORS THESIS RESEARCH AWARDS
Spring 2019 Senior Honors Thesis Research Award applications are now available.
There will be two rounds of awards for those students who will be seniors in the 2019-2020 school year. Students may only apply for one round of awards. The first round (the deadline for which is Thursday, February 28 at 4:00 pm) will support students from those programs which begin the honors research experience in the spring term of the student’s junior year and other students whose projects are sufficiently well-planned that they could begin work over the summer. A second round of awards will be made mid-way through the fall term next year. I will reserve part of the funds for especially worthy projects for which funding needs arise in between the two regular application periods. You should call these cases to my attention as they come to yours.
Funds from the Senior Honors Thesis Research Awards program may be used to support any legitimate cost directly connected to the undertaking of the honors project: laboratory equipment or supplies, computer software or time, costs related to field research, artistic supplies or equipment, books or periodicals not available through normal library sources, illustrations and duplication—among others. Travel will be supported only where such travel is absolutely essential to the project and only for the actual cost of transportation. Except in unusual circumstances, individual awards will not exceed $500.
We are also very pleased to highlight the Gordon P. Golding Honors Research Award, which is designated for students doing research on slavery or some other aspect of African American history and culture. We would appreciate your assistance in publicizing this funding opportunity.
Your help is crucial to the successful operation of the program. Would you please:
- Make your honors students (or prospective honors students) aware of the existence of the program and distribute the application form and recommendation form to interested students. All applicants must be eligible to participate in departmental honors AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION. PLEASE DO NOT SEND FORWARD ANY APPLICATION FROM A STUDENT WITH AN OVERALL GPA OF LESS THAN 3.300.
- Establish a departmental deadline for the completed applications AND thesis advisor recommendation to be returned to you.
- If there are two or more applications from your department, rank order them in terms of overall merit and indicate your ranking in the space provided on the application form (page 1).
- RETURN THE COMPLETED APPLICATIONS TO HONORS CAROLINA, CB# 3510, 225 GRAHAM MEMORIAL, NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2018, 4:00 PM.
Award decisions will be announced in March.
Thanks for your help. Please call our office at 919-843-7756 if you have questions or concerns.
2019 field courses in tropical biology
Our course are intended for undergraduates or early graduate level students who have a keen interest in tropical ecosystems and conservation, but have little or no experience of working in a tropical environment. Participants may enroll on either a credit or non-credit basis.
DANTA operates on a cooperative and collaborative teaching model with multiple international instructors on each course. Co-instruction allows for more individualized instruction, and the sharing and appreciation of different ideas. Visiting scholars are often incorporated into the curriculum to broaden student experience.
As much of our advertising is done by word-of-mouth, we encourage you to spread the word by forwarding this information to students or friends who may be interested in our programs.
For more information, please visit our website at www.DANTA.info and/or email conservation@danta.info. For an alumni perspective on our programs, please see our blog DANTAisms – http://dantablog.wordpress.com/.
Methods in Primate Behavior and Conservation
Dates: July 3 – July 18, 2019
Program Fee: $2600
Application deadline: June 1, 2019
Course Description
This course is designed to provide students with field experience in primate behavior, ecology, and conservation. This course will be held at Osa Conservation’s Piro Reseach Station in Costa Rica’s spectacular Osa peninsula. As the one of the largest tracts of rain forest north of the Amazon (roughly 400,000 acres in the Osa Conservation Area), it is renowned for high species diversity. It is one of only a few places in Costa Rica that has jaguar, puma, sea turtles and four species of monkey (mantled howler monkey, black-handed spider monkey, white-faced capuchin and squirrel monkey).
The learning experiences for the course fall into four main categories: field exercises, seminars, lectures, and applied conservation. The field exercises and seminars provide instruction and experience in: (1) methods of measuring environmental variables, including assessment of resource availability, (2) methods of collecting and analyzing the behavior of free-ranging primates, (3) assessments of biodiversity and (4) techniques for estimating population size. Lecture topics will cover the behavior and ecology of Old and New World primates from an evolutionary perspective. Selected lecture topics include primate sociality, feeding ecology, taxonomy, rain forest ecosystems and conservation. Service learning is a large component of all our programs. Students will gain experience in applied conservation through participation in Osa Conservation’s reforestation, sustainable agriculture and wildlife monitoring programs (big cat and sea turtle).
Primate Behavior and Conservation
Dates: June 5-July 1, 2019
Program Fee: $3500
Application deadline: May 15, 2019
Course Description
This course is designed to provide students with field experience in primate behavior, ecology, and conservation. The course will be conducted at Osa Conservation‘s Piro Research Station in Costa Rica’s spectacular Osa peninsula. As the one of the largest tracts of rain forest north of the Amazon (roughly 400,000 acres in the Osa Conservation Area), it is renowned for high species diversity. It is one of only a few sites in Costa Rica that contain 4 species of primate (mantled howler monkey, black-handed spider monkey, white-faced capuchin and squirrel monkey). Four species of sea turtle also nest along its beaches. Please help us protect this unique region which is of international conservation concern.
The learning experiences for the course fall into five main categories: field exercises, independent research, discussions, lectures and applied conservation. The first half of the courses is devoted to learning ecological field techniques, while in the second half students develop, carry out and present data from their independent research projects. Many of our participants have gone on to present their work at national and regional conferences. The field exercises and seminars provide instruction and experience in:(1) methods of measuring environmental variables, including assessment of resource availability, (2) methods of collecting and analyzing the behavior of free-ranging primates, (3) assessments of biodiversity and (4) techniques for estimating population size. Lecture topics will cover the behavior and ecology of Old and New World primates from an evolutionary perspective. Selected lecture topics include primate sociality, feeding ecology, taxonomy, rain forest ecosystems, conservation, climate change and sustainability. Participants gain experience in applied conservation through participation in Osa Conservation’s reforestation,and sea turtle breeding and monitoring programs.
Wildlife Conservation and Sustainability
Dates: June 18 – July 1, 2019
Program fee: $2600
Application deadline: May 15, 2019
Course Description
The proximate and ultimate causes of declines of rain forest habitats and biodiversity will be examined through a combination of direct observations in the field, lectures, and critical reviews of the literature. Topics will include the role of hunting, logging, agriculture, disease, predation, expanding human populations and their consumption of natural resources as they affect forest and biodiversity conservation. Emphasis will be on sustainable solutions and how today’s human societies can endure in the face of climate change, ecosystem degradation and resource limitations.
The majority of the course will be conducted at Osa Conservation‘s Piro Research Station in Costa Rica’s spectacular Osa Peninsula. As one of the largest tracts of rain forest north of the Amazon (roughly 400,000 acres in the Osa Conservation Area), it is renowned for high species diversity. It is one of only a few sites in Costa Rica that contain 4 species of primate (mantled howler monkey, black-handed spider monkey, white-faced capuchin and the Central American squirrel monkey). Four species of sea turtle also nest along its beaches. Students gain hands-on experience through participation in Osa Conservation’s sustainable agriculture, wildlife monitoring and reforestation programs. Problems of various land-use activities will be evaluated with side trips to an oil palm plantation, a coffee plantation, and small-scale agricultural plots.
Field Excursion
All courses include a visit to a wildlife rehabilitation center, sustainable chocolate plantation and dolphin and snorkeling trip of the Golfo Dulce. We overnight on the Boruca Indigenous Reserve where we will learn about the community and their traditional lifeways, and help with needed projects. Every effort is made to implement eco-friendly and socially responsible practices into our day-to-day operations, field courses and overall mission.
Enrollment in each course is limited to 10 students. The course is open to both credit and non-credit seeking students. University credit can be arranged through your home institution.
