Friday, December 19, 2008

Contributions of UNLV and PLI Staff Recognized at the Great Basin CESU Annual Meeting

Congratulations to Glendee Ane Osborne and Dr. Scott Abella! Both were in the spotlight during the annual meeting of the Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), which was held December 8, 2008 in Reno.

Osborne, a graduate student in UNLV’s Department of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, received the 2008 Great Basin CESU Outstanding Student Contribution Award. She was nominated by her mentor, Dr. Karen Harry, UNLV associate professor of Anthropology, for completing a predictive model for archaeological site distribution based on vegetation, elevation, soil types, and other environmental factors. The model for Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Parashant National Monument was part of a larger CESU project funded by the National Park Service and awarded to UNLV’s Public Lands Institute. In addition to being the sole author on the predictive model, Osborne also completed several reports and presentations resulting from the project. PLI Executive Director Dr. Peg Rees presented the award to Osborne on Dr. Harry’s behalf during the CESU meeting.

Abella, assistant research professor in Vegetation Ecology, was selected as one of two presenters for the CESU Showcase. Abella highlighted vegetation monitoring and analysis at Lake Mead and demonstrated how the CESU project yielded high value-added results from collaborative agreements between land managers and university scientists. In a two-year period, all deliverables were met, which included surveying 1,747 kilometers of travel corridors for invasive exotic plant species on federal land in Clark County, removing more than 600,000 individual exotic plants, and monitoring of more than 12 rare native species to assist the National Park Service in meeting the monitoring requirements under the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. In addition to the monitoring, Abella noted that 29 articles have been published from the research, with Lake Mead managers co-authoring half of six published articles from CESU-funded projects.

“I am proud of Glendee Ane’s and Scott’s accomplishments,” said Rees. “UNLV’s importance as a research institution was prominent since half of the formal presentations at the CESU annual meeting were conducted by individuals from UNLV and PLI.” 

PLI and Discover Mojave Project Manager featured on Inside Education TV Program

Thanks to the efforts of Discover Mojave Project Manager Daphne Sewing, the UNLV Public Lands Institute is a new partner with the Clark County School District's Physical Education Adventure Project. Sewing and the project are featured on Inside Education, a television program airing on Vegas PBS Channel 10. Click here to watch the program:

The show will air during the following times:

Channel 10

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

Sunday, December 28, 2008 at 6:00 a.m.

Channel 111

Friday, December 19, 2008 at 4:30 p.m.

In addition, Sewing and the rock climbing activity will be included in a PBS documentary about childhood obesity, which is set to air on January 22, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. on Channel 10.