At their March 16 meeting, the MOU Board awarded $12,800 in Savaloja grants, a record amount thanks to the generosity of MOU members and supporters who responded to last year’s Savaloja challenge match. The grants are named for Terry Savaloja, a respected Minnesota birder and TS Roberts Award recipient who died in 1992. Savaloja grants support projects that increase our understanding of birds, promote preservation of birds and their natural habitats, or increase public interest in birds. This year’s grant recipients include eight diverse projects:
Audubon MN (St. Paul) received $1960 to provide scholarships to Flying Wild workshops for educators working in urban low-income and minority areas. The intent is to encourage the integration of bird education and conservation activities into the school curriculum in an engaging, successful, and academically purposeful manner. Carpenter Nature Center (Hastings) received $575 to support a northern saw-whet and long-eared owl banding program. Harambee Elementary School (Maplewood) received $2580 for a program that uses birds as an integrating theme in teaching disparate disciplines. The grant will allow students to remain in the program for two consecutive grades (2nd and 3rd), rather than just the second grade, which was funded by a Savaloja grant last year. Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (Duluth) was granted $625 to cover part of the stipend needed to hire a count trainee for this fall’s migration. Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners (Plymouth) received $2690 for a pilot program that will encourage seniors in a low-income neighborhood to become involved in birding activities. The program, which will provide binoculars and develop bird habitat near feeders and observation benches, is expected to reach up to 50 older adults. If this pilot program is successful, they’ll look to expand it to six additional neighborhoods. Sarah Knutie (Hubbard + Clearwater Counties) was awarded $1600 to start long-term research on tree swallow and eastern bluebird behavioral and immune system defenses against nest parasites. It’s an elegantly designed study promising to answer both basic and sophisticated questions in host- parasite co-evolution and ecology, and more specifically host defenses. She will also create a bird-parasite education toolbox for use with local schools. Three Rivers Park District (Minneapolis) received $2100 to purchase 28 pairs of binoculars to facilitate birding activities for children and adults at two education centers: Kroening Interpretive Center in North Mississippi Regional Park in North Minneapolis, and West Coon Rapids Dam Visitor Center in Brooklyn Park. Wood Lake Nature Center (Richfield) received $400 to support their second annual Friends of Wood Lake Big Day Birdathon. As part of this fun, entertaining and educational family event, the grant will pay for a Raptor Center demonstration. Savaloja Committee members Ann Kessen, Steve and Jo Blanich, Pam Perry, Mike North and Chuck Neil worked diligently, sifting through the dozen proposals received, to craft the above recommendations for the board. But it’s MOU members who allow MOU to support these wonderful projects by stepping forward and donating. It’s not too early to build on, or join in, that tradition by sending a contribution for Savaloja grants to MOU now. Savaloja Grants, 2016--Individuals or organizations who are undertaking projects in Minnesota like those mentioned above may submit grant applications to the MOU for the 2016 grant cycle. Application information may be obtained by emailing: gra...@moumn.org, or visiting the MOU web page at http://moumn.org/grants.html. The deadline for receipt of grant applications is January 31, 2016. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
