蒂凡尼·惠特菲尔德和布里安娜·古道尔著
Biological Sciences graduate student Kori Carr was awarded a 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) 研究生 研究 Fellowship. 赠款总额为159美元,000, 谁会在经济上支持她完成研究生学业, giving her the stability to pursue her passion of wetland plant ecology.
作为一名硕士一年级学生，卡尔的要求很高. Grant funding begins in the fall of 2024 and will last until the fall of 2027. In addition to research on wetlands impacted by habitat degradation and destruction, she will use the grant to work with and inform K-12 students in the Hampton Roads area about the importance of local wetlands within our communities and protecting wildlife and biodiversity. She hopes to spark an interest in environmental science in kids who’ve had little exposure to it and inspire the next generation of scientists. Part of her grant work will involve helping teachers fill in potential gaps in their lesson plans.
“My focus is more on Norfolk and Portsmouth because I want more younger Black students to be more informed and be more invested in environmental science, 尤其是向他们展示不同的机会. 我想让他们知道这是一种选择。. “A lot of the kids in this area don't really know much about the place that they live, 我们被海岸上的湿地所包围. It's a great way for me to connect with and give back to my community, and that’s been my main driving factor that I'm doing something that can help a lot in the long run.”
卡尔的研究主要集中在大沼泽. “It’s a beautiful place situated right on the border of Virginia and North Carolina,” said Carr.
Historically the swamp was a physical and cultural refuge for Indigenous tribes, people of the African diaspora who escaped slavery and marooned peoples.
Her work in the Great Dismal Swamp is based on a deeper connection as a biracial woman of color in S.T.E.M.
“它是几代人的避难所, and that's another thing that also really interests me and connects me to it,卡尔说. “Wetlands are very valued ecosystems that a lot of people overlook because when you see them in movies, they are kind of [portrayed] like these really evil places that are so spooky and scary. 但实际上, 他们是美丽的, and they're able to be explored; and they're great for things like water quality control and flood management, 促进生物多样性，甚至娱乐, 比如打猎和钓鱼.”
Carr said although wetlands play an important role, they’re being destroyed and degraded. She focuses a lot on bald cypress – large trees with big bases and Spanish moss draping from their branches.
卡尔从小就沉浸在植物学的世界里. She grew up “almost everywhere” but mostly along the Gulf Coast and the east coast due to her parents’ active-duty military status. 而她的父母则被派往国外, 她主要是由祖母抚养长大的, a forestry major at the University of Kentucky during the early 1970s.
“Forestry and botany was (and still is) a very male dominated field and my grandmother was the only woman in the program,卡尔说. “她熬过了这一切，甚至在怀孕期间也顺利毕业了. 她对植物一直很在行，现在也是.”
Carr knew she had a passion for botany but wasn’t sure what she wanted to do at first. In 2016, 而她的丈夫驻扎在诺福克海军基地, she decided to double major in biological sciences and biochemistry at ODU. It was around her junior year that she met and collaborated with Assistant Professor Taylor Sloey, 湿地和植物生态学专家, 当她在沼泽和其他湿地做研究时.
Sloey was one of the biggest influences on Carr and was the main catalyst in helping her to pursue graduate school.
“Kori is extremely deserving of this prestigious award,” Sloey said. “作为我实验室的本科生, 她已经获得了自己的研究经费, 领导一个研究项目, 在多个国家科学会议上发表了她的研究成果, 出版了一篇文章. She has been a valuable contributor to our lab's field data collection and stakeholder outreach efforts. She's taking that same energy and experience into her graduate work. So, while I am ecstatic about her success with the NSF 研究生 研究 Fellowship Program, 对此我并不感到惊讶.”
“I think she’s a great example of just how important it is to have a good mentor who really just wants to see their students thrive,卡尔这样评价斯洛伊.
Sloey’s wetlands research offered Carr numerous opportunities such as public speaking conferences, 奖, 拨款及社区伙伴关系. Carr has also participated with the Society of Wetland Scientists and the Ecological Society of America in different diversity programs.
Carr said she is appreciative of everyone who has helped her earn the NSF grant and is in a position to educate and help young people across Hampton Roads learn about wetlands and be a part of the solution.
“It’s nice to be able to look back and see all the people who have paved the way for people like me to be here,”她说。. “I would like to think that if more people can associate people that look like me with this type of vocation of scientist, 生物学家, 或者植物生态学家或者湿地生态学家, then it will open doors for a lot more people to get interested. 即使沼泽不是你的菜, maybe you’ll find something else in nature that inspires you to go out and save the world.”