Biology Boosted by Chevron Fellowships

Michael Hickey and Natasha Urban,

McMicken College of Arts and Sciences

graduate students in the

Department of Biological Sciences

, are studying the biodiversity and primary productivity throughout a 250-acre site that borders the Great Miami River. Their efforts are supported by Chevron Fellowship Funds, a program designed to foster relationships between Chevron and the

University of Cincinnati

.

“These are two outstanding graduate students who are going to get training in environmental biology that otherwise wouldn’t have funding,” says David Lentz, executive director of the

Center for Field Studies

and professor in the biology department.

According to Lentz, the partnership between Chevron and the university benefits both parties. Chevron has been working for years to restore a tract of land—the Hooven site—once occupied by an old oil refinery, while the biology department was looking for opportunities to support students.

Though the area is now comprised of forest and wetland, for years it was occupied by an oil refinery. Chevron has been working to clean up the site and build a healthy, sustainable habitat.

“During our outreach efforts, we approached Chevron and they were very excited about us developing our field station in the nearby Miami Whitewater Forest. Chevron has worked hard to restore the Hooven site in a responsible manner and they’re eager for the scientific community to understand what they’ve done,” he says.

Chevron provided fellowships which gave Michael Hickey and Natasha Urban the opportunity to study plant and animal life at sites like this.

Chevron provided fellowships which gave Michael Hickey and Natasha Urban the opportunity to study plant and animal life at sites like this.

The Chevron funds created an opportunity for Hickey and Urban to do field research. Both students are looking at the biodiversity found in the Hooven site. Hickey is studying the primary productivity, which means he is looking at the plant life within the site. Urban is studying secondary productivity, which focuses on small mammals such as white-footed mice, voles, raccoons and possums.

Eventually, their findings regarding biomass—the plant and animal life—and biodiversity will be compared to the Miami Whitewater Forest, a park just upstream on the Great Miami River. The expectation is that both sites will show similar levels of primary productivity.

“The students are there to conduct meaningful environmental research that will prepare them for jobs as wildlife biologists after graduation,” says Lentz. “I think that we’re going to learn a great deal about the quality of habitat at the Hooven site over the next couple of years. Our counterparts from Chevron have been extremely cooperative and our students are going to benefit significantly from this research opportunity.”

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