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Peru State Professor Awarded National Science Foundation Grant

By Matthew Leaf

05/07/2013

(KTNC) - A Peru State College biology professor has been awarded a $267,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will allow Dr. Michael Barger to continue research to find and document the species living in the Big Thicket National Preserve in southeast Texas.
Barger says he submitted the grant application last year and found out in December his research had been recommended for approval. He says this will help him continue work he’s been doing for the past six or seven years. (play audio   :25   oc: “fun stuff.”)
The Big Thicket National Preserve consists of a couple hundred thousand acres, in an area extending from the Natchez River to near Houston. The area has traditionally been used for oil exploration and timber farming.
Dr. Barger says there are 95 species of fish that make their home in the waters of the preserve, along with hundreds of species of parasites that utilize the fish as habitat. He says there are two primary goals to the research that will be funded by the grant. (play audio :18   oc: “known to science.”)
The second goal, he says, is more conservation oriented. (play audio :20   oc: “depend on them.”)
The National Science Foundation grant will fund yearlong stipends for at least two Peru State students a year to participate in the research. (play audio :18   oc: “the research.”)
This is the first NSF grant that Barger has received. Considering the competitive nature of the grant process, he says he’s happy the project was chosen for funding. (play audio   :34   oc: “are to make.”)
Barger’s grant runs for three years, through 2016. Peru State faculty members have received over one million dollars in National Science Foundation grants in the past 17 years.

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