U of S AgAdventures Camp Receives $41,000 NSERC Award
Posted March 07, 2002
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 7, 2002 2002-03-02-AG
U of S AgAdventures Camp Receives $41,000 NSERC Award
Thanks to a $41,000 federal grant, Saskatchewan elementary school children
will have the chance to adopt a lamb, extract DNA from an onion and make ice
cream at University of Saskatchewan AgAdventures agricultural science camp.
AgAdventures, a U of S student-run, not-for-profit enterprise that promotes
agricultural science, has just been awarded $41,200 over three years from
the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) PromoScience
Program.
Based at the College of Agriculture, AgAdventures offers interactive,
hands-on field trips in May and June, as well as summer day camps to
elementary school children grades three to eight. It is the only camp of its
kind in Canada.
The grant is part of $1.4 million in NSERC funding awarded this week to 41
organizations across Canada working to attract young people to careers in
science and engineering.
AgAdventures explores various steps along the food production chain -- from
lab, to field, to market, to plate -- and promotes a positive view of
science, agriculture and learning. The NSERC money will help with program
expenses such as materials for children's activities and sponsorship of
campers unable to afford fees.
"The highest priority for the funding will be to offset the cost of
developing and implementing a program to attract more Aboriginal children,
both rural and urban," said AgAdventures director Michelle Cruickshank.
Another priority is to expand the school field trip program. More than 400
students from Saskatoon and surrounding communities attended the AgAdventure
field trip program in May and June of 2001, the program's first year.
"Schools do not have sufficient funding to cover costs, yet it is a very
important program because of the opportunity to expose many children to
agricultural science," Cruickshank adds.
The field trip program has received tremendous feedback from both students
and teachers, who've called it "the best field trip I've ever been on",
"awesome" and "appealing and creative."
Cruickshank, a fourth-year plant science student, works with four other U of
S students to instruct and run the programs. The idea for AgAdventures
started in the College and was initiated last year by student Christine
Dear.
In announcing the grants, Secretary of State for Science, Research and
Development, Maurizio Bevilacqua said, "It is encouraging to see that so
many Canadian organizations are supporting our youth by providing them with
solid learning opportunities in sciences and engineering."
For more information about Ag Adventures or to register for programs, visit:
www.ag.usask.ca/agadventures/. For information about other Saskatchewan
organizations that have received the NSERC PromoScience grants, visit:
www.nserc.ca/promoscience.
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For more information, contact:
Kathryn Warden
Research Communications Officer
Office of the Vice-President (Research)
University of Saskatchewan
Phone: (306) 966-2506
Email:kathryn.warden@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research
Michelle Cruickshank
AdAdventures Director
College of Agriculture
University of Saskatchewan
Phone: (306) 966-2005
Email: ag.adventures@usask.ca
