Cornell University has awarded a new round of Engaged Opportunity Grants for five projects that will connect undergraduate courses and programs with community organizations.
The projects cover amphibian conservation, early childhood communication, Ithaca film history, comedy and disaster response, according to the university's Einhorn Center for Community Engagement.
One project will pair a herpetology lecture and lab course led by ecology and evolutionary biology professor Molly Womack with the Tompkins County Amphibian Migration Patrol. Students will study local migration data while helping protect frogs and salamanders that cross roads to reach breeding wetlands.
The work will also connect students with plans for an amphibian underpass intended to provide a safer road crossing. The research will examine biodiversity and factors that affect migration survival.
Another collaboration, called Nurturing Early Speech Together, will involve psychology professor Michael Goldstein, the Sciencenter and Tompkins Community Action. The program will combine parenting workshops for Early Head Start families with interactive exhibits focused on early language development.
Students in Goldstein's advanced developmental seminar will help design and refine exhibit prototypes. Researchers also plan follow-up studies tracking children's communication and cognitive development after the workshops.
A course called Cinematic Cities will work with Cinemapolis, the Wharton Studio Museum, the State Theatre and the History Center of Tompkins County. Students will help curate public events and build a digital map tracing Ithaca's history as an early filmmaking center and its later moviegoing culture.
Students in a first-year writing seminar taught by Emily Foster will partner with the Hangar Theatre. They will study literary humor, attend productions, interview theater staff, volunteer with setup and breakdown and present original comedy in a public reading on the Hangar's mainstage.
The fifth project, Atlantic Hope, will bring students from across Cornell into a large-scale humanitarian aid and disaster response simulation. The exercise will include negotiation and emergency management work with volunteers from federal, state and local agencies.
The Einhorn Center accepts proposals for Engaged Opportunity Grants from faculty, staff and certain community partners each spring and fall.
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