Nissan-WWF Environmental Leadership Program Partners with Earthwatch Institute
EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE -5 June, 2006-Fifteen college students nationwide have been selected to join an Earthwatch project in South Africa through a new Environmental Leadership Program developed by Nissan North America and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The program aims to empower young leaders on U.S. college campuses to become effective advocates for the environment.
Each selected student wins an opportunity to participate in Earthwatch's Brown Hyaena research project located near Pilanesberg National Park. Like other carnivores, brown hyaenas suffer from shrinking habitats and conflict with humans. Wildlife parks are surrounded by farmland and game ranches, where hyaenas are poisoned, trapped, or hunted down as pests.
The student leaders will join other Earthwatch volunteers and scientists Dr. Dawn Scott and Richard Yarnell to conduct wildlife surveys from a vehicle, or on foot in areas outside the park. They will also study things that go bump in the night, playing tape recordings of a prey distress call to attract predators, or searching for hyaena via spotlight.
Apart from the scientific research, the students will go on photo safaris, and local cultural events such as drumming sessions. Beyond hyaena they can expect to see zebras, impala, white rhinos, elephants, and wildebeest, and with a little luck, they may also come across lions, cheetahs, wild dogs or leopards. The Earthwatch team will be based at a field camp in the heart of Mankwe Wildlife Reserve, a classic bushveld landscape just east of the Pilanesberg massif. The reserve is home to a range of endangered wildlife, including white rhinos. The camp has solar-powered lights and warm water, but no electricity. The Earthwatch Brown hyaena project is open to the public to join in 2007.
Before going to South Africa in August, the students will attend a 4-day environmental summit June 24-28 in Washington D.C., conducted by WWF to help prepare the students for leadership roles in the global community. On a field trip to Chesapeake Bay, the students will gain exposure to environmental challenges and ways of addressing them. On visits to Capitol Hill, the World Bank, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency, participants will meet with officials to explore issues such as wildlife protection and environmental justice.
The award winners represent a diverse range of backgrounds and academic achievements, from spearheading environmental protection and conservation activities on their campuses and in their communities, to developing new engineering technologies to purify polluted water.
The winners are: Rachel Barge, University of California, Berkeley; Nicole Bonoff , Stanford University; Ashley Yeager, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; ; Carmella Jefferson, Texas Southern University; Shakevia Johnson, Jackson State University; Gregory LeFevre and Sunny Pereira, Michigan Technological University; James Liacos, University of Southern California; Lisa Zhao Liu and Brenda Pulido Villanueva, University of California, Los Angeles; ; Richard Taplin Moore, Southern Methodist University; Michael Murray, Michigan State University; Priyanka Pathak, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Jamiel Wiggins of Tougaloo College.
An independent panel of experts selected the winners from a competitive pool of applicants from eligible universities in five states, including California, Michigan, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Selection was based on students' academic achievement, leadership ability and demonstrated commitment to the environment. In addition to the 15 first-place prize winners, seven students won second-place cash awards of $1,000 each.
For more information on the Nissan-WWF Environmental Leadership Award winners and the program, visit www.worldwildlife.org/nissanleaders.
About World Wildlife Fund
World Wildlife Fund is the largest conservation organization in the world. For 45 years, WWF has worked to save endangered species, protect endangered habitats, and address global threats such as deforestation, over-fishing, and climate change. Known worldwide by its panda logo, WWF works in 100 countries on more than 2,000 conservation programs. WWF has 1.2 million members in the United States and nearly 5 million supporters worldwide. For more information on WWF, visit www.worldwildlife.org.
About Nissan North America, Inc.
Nissan's global approach to environmental protection focuses on the symbiosis of people, vehicles and nature by managing CO2 emissions; protecting the air, water and soil; and recycling of resources. Nissan places a high priority on effective environmental management, and that discipline is evident among Nissan's research, design, engineering, manufacturing and distribution operations around the world.
More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.infiniti.com.
Photograph may be used only to accompany this press release:
Dawn Scott, Principal Investigator on Earthwatch's Brown hyaena Project; copyright Rob Van Manen