Outlook

by John A. Koropchak
Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Dean

Environmental research at SIUC has deep roots. They predate 1950, when the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and what is now the Fisheries and Illinois Aquaculture Center were founded, and when the University was developing Little Grassy Campus (now Touch of Nature Environmental Center), an outdoor "laboratory" for research and hands-on learning.

Perspectives has published dozens of stories related to environmental protection—from clean coal technology to water supply modeling. This theme issue takes a look at species monitoring ("Saving the Sturgeon"), habitat restoration ("Pure Prairie League"), ecosystem response to climate change ("To Have and To Hold"), and the effects of pesticides on aquatic organisms ("In Our Own Back Yards"). A bonus article ("Cold Front") concerns not ecology, but an advance in physics that has everything to do with the environment: development of an alloy for energy-saving, solid-state refrigeration.

Many of the faculty featured here are affiliated with our new Center for Ecology, which is off to a robust start. The center has attracted external funding for six undergraduate summer internships this year. It also has landed a $1.8-million research training grant from the National Science Foundation. This five-year project will recruit new graduate students to partner with high school teachers from local school districts. The teams will conduct environmental research during the summer at—where else?—Touch of Nature, and will work on curriculum development during the school year.

Finally, our new Middle Mississippi Wetland Research Field Station, just across the Mississippi River from Cape Girardeau, Mo., is now up and running. SIUC is managing this 1,400-acre state-owned site for work on river floodplain ecology, management, and restoration, issues of considerable public concern.