Tuscaloosa, Alabama
UA TO SEND AMBASSADORS OF GOODWILL TO TANZANIA
In show of support for the newly organized group Tide For Tusks, a student initiated elephant conservation program at UA, the university will send representatives to Tanzania on an exploratory visit. The goodwill ambassadors will help to develop innovative learning experiences that will focus on enhancing UA students’ abilities to solve “real world” problems related to their disciplines through their involvement in high quality experiential learning opportunities.
Randy Mecredy, adjunct instructor in the Honors College and former director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, and Reata Strickland, a graduate student in Human Environmental Sciences and retired UA employee, will work with representatives of the Tanzanian based African Wildlife Trust/Ivory Orphans to develop research and hands on activities for UA students. The experiences will provide students with the occasion to engage in field assessments that will result in higher quality learning opportunities. Funded in part by the Office of the President, during their visit the team will be accompanied by John Latta, a professor in the Honors College, and Madeline Khuri, a biology major and sophomore in the Honors College.
In a letter to the African Wildlife Trust, UA President Judy Bonner says, “I am delighted to extend the offer of a partnership between the University of Alabama Tide For Tusks Program and the African Wildlife Trust/Ivory Orphans to integrate scholarly research and service learning projects that best communicate and bring about awareness and conservation for the African elephant. We support the enthusiasm of Tide For Tusks and recognize the important role that our University mascot can play in helping to save the elephants.”
Mecredy gives credit to Dr. Bonner for her support and approval of the organization. “I believe that Tide For Tusks is a great example of the level of confidence that Dr. Bonner has always expressed for the faculty and staff here at UA. She provides us with the opportunity to explore new avenues and methods for teaching students – giving us with the ability to offer classes that are both meaningful and useful toward their academic and career goals.”
Having always been focused on what is best for the University and placing emphasis on putting the students first, when Dr. Bonner was approached about the idea of starting a mascot conservation program at UA in 2013 she said, “I love the idea of students taking this on as a project.”
So, Mecredy and Strickland got started laying the groundwork for Tide For Tusks. They launched a website, started a Facebook page, created a Twitter account and other social media outlets. They met with key administrators at the UA, and presented the idea to the Professional Staff Assembly; Office, Clerical, and Technical Staff Assembly; Faculty Senate, student organizations, various departments on campus, and dozens of community groups. With new ideas and encouragement from each organization to move forward, they filed articles of incorporation, received exemption from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c) 3 as a public charity, and began operating as a non-profit organization in December 2014.
Mecredy believes that Tide For Tusks can make a difference in the struggle to save the African elephant. “We can use our university mascot, combined with our considerable intellectual and social capital to raise awareness about poaching of elephants,” Mecredy said. “It is only with the conscientious support of the students, faculty, staff and administrators – who believe deeply in protecting a keystone species like the African elephant - that we can become a part of the solution to save a majestic creature for future generations.”
So why should we protect the elephants? Illegal poaching and inadequate conservation efforts have led to a serious decline in the population of this species. According to experts, more than 30,000 elephants are illegally slaughtered each year just for their ivory. Scientists believe that at this rate, it is possible that the elephant could be extinct in much of Africa in our lifetime.
“At the University of Alabama, we all know what the elephant represents to us. It has been our beloved mascot for more than 80 years,” Mecredy said. “Soon we may be the only major school with an extinct animal for a mascot!” Mecredy continued by saying that protecting a species simply because it is a popular mascot would not be a valid way to set conservation priorities. However the University of Alabama is a flagship school for our state and the UA mascot qualifies as a flagship species for attracting support of conservation efforts.
In the late fall of 2014, Mecredy met with administrators from the Honors College and put together a class that is centered around the concept of experiential learning. Nine students enrolled in the class during the spring semester of 2015. They learned about social justice issues and conservation challenges of hunting, poaching and trafficking of wildlife. The class conducted research, explored opportunities, and worked on projects to raise awareness of illegal elephant poaching. They used networking and social media tools to create educational materials and developed a plan for establishing a mascot conservation program at the UA.
“As a first step, the class made a lot of progress towards raising awareness,” Mecredy said. “They made posters and flyers, set up information tables at various events, held fundraisers, and posted selfies on social media. I think by far, the most sustainable project to develop out of the class was the student organization Tide For Tusks.”
Madeline Khuri, a student in the class (who along with Matthew Barrett and Madeline Karwich helped to organize the student group Tide For Tusks), will meet up with the other ambassadors of good will in Tanzania. “I am very interested in making an exploratory visit to Tanzania and would love to take part in this opportunity,” Khuri said. “As a student director and mentor, traveling to the site will be extremely useful to me in assisting other students in planning for their projects to be carried out in future classes.”
When asked about his role with the exploratory visit, Dr. John Latta said, “My goal as professor of record for this class is to increases its scope and its value to our community and to our students, from work in the public sphere to scientific research.” He continued by saying that he wants the students taking the class to have a chance to work on problems that have clear potential to be of practical use, so that students learn from effective, measurable projects. During his travel he would also like to explore volunteer opportunities to be sure that the class participation in Tanzania and in the UA classroom is of practical value, “I want to be sure we won’t simply be doing what other American college classes are doing, i.e. to make sure we can do something distinctly UA as our contribution to this project.”
Organized as a non-profit, 501 (c) 3, Tide For Tusks is dedicated to raising awareness for poaching and recognizes the urgent nature of the plight of the African elephant. The organization is working with students at the UA to establish a mascot conservation program. They want not only the 36,000 students and 6,000 faculty and staff, to be aware of the problems associated with elephant poaching, but also the tens of thousands of people in our community, and hundreds of thousands of alumni and supporters around the state and throughout the nation to know about this dire situation.
Money raised by the organization is split between conservation work in Africa and the scholarly research done at UA. Donations can be made at tidefortusks.org and they can also be found on Faceboook.
[email protected]
UA TO SEND AMBASSADORS OF GOODWILL TO TANZANIA
In show of support for the newly organized group Tide For Tusks, a student initiated elephant conservation program at UA, the university will send representatives to Tanzania on an exploratory visit. The goodwill ambassadors will help to develop innovative learning experiences that will focus on enhancing UA students’ abilities to solve “real world” problems related to their disciplines through their involvement in high quality experiential learning opportunities.
Randy Mecredy, adjunct instructor in the Honors College and former director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, and Reata Strickland, a graduate student in Human Environmental Sciences and retired UA employee, will work with representatives of the Tanzanian based African Wildlife Trust/Ivory Orphans to develop research and hands on activities for UA students. The experiences will provide students with the occasion to engage in field assessments that will result in higher quality learning opportunities. Funded in part by the Office of the President, during their visit the team will be accompanied by John Latta, a professor in the Honors College, and Madeline Khuri, a biology major and sophomore in the Honors College.
In a letter to the African Wildlife Trust, UA President Judy Bonner says, “I am delighted to extend the offer of a partnership between the University of Alabama Tide For Tusks Program and the African Wildlife Trust/Ivory Orphans to integrate scholarly research and service learning projects that best communicate and bring about awareness and conservation for the African elephant. We support the enthusiasm of Tide For Tusks and recognize the important role that our University mascot can play in helping to save the elephants.”
Mecredy gives credit to Dr. Bonner for her support and approval of the organization. “I believe that Tide For Tusks is a great example of the level of confidence that Dr. Bonner has always expressed for the faculty and staff here at UA. She provides us with the opportunity to explore new avenues and methods for teaching students – giving us with the ability to offer classes that are both meaningful and useful toward their academic and career goals.”
Having always been focused on what is best for the University and placing emphasis on putting the students first, when Dr. Bonner was approached about the idea of starting a mascot conservation program at UA in 2013 she said, “I love the idea of students taking this on as a project.”
So, Mecredy and Strickland got started laying the groundwork for Tide For Tusks. They launched a website, started a Facebook page, created a Twitter account and other social media outlets. They met with key administrators at the UA, and presented the idea to the Professional Staff Assembly; Office, Clerical, and Technical Staff Assembly; Faculty Senate, student organizations, various departments on campus, and dozens of community groups. With new ideas and encouragement from each organization to move forward, they filed articles of incorporation, received exemption from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c) 3 as a public charity, and began operating as a non-profit organization in December 2014.
Mecredy believes that Tide For Tusks can make a difference in the struggle to save the African elephant. “We can use our university mascot, combined with our considerable intellectual and social capital to raise awareness about poaching of elephants,” Mecredy said. “It is only with the conscientious support of the students, faculty, staff and administrators – who believe deeply in protecting a keystone species like the African elephant - that we can become a part of the solution to save a majestic creature for future generations.”
So why should we protect the elephants? Illegal poaching and inadequate conservation efforts have led to a serious decline in the population of this species. According to experts, more than 30,000 elephants are illegally slaughtered each year just for their ivory. Scientists believe that at this rate, it is possible that the elephant could be extinct in much of Africa in our lifetime.
“At the University of Alabama, we all know what the elephant represents to us. It has been our beloved mascot for more than 80 years,” Mecredy said. “Soon we may be the only major school with an extinct animal for a mascot!” Mecredy continued by saying that protecting a species simply because it is a popular mascot would not be a valid way to set conservation priorities. However the University of Alabama is a flagship school for our state and the UA mascot qualifies as a flagship species for attracting support of conservation efforts.
In the late fall of 2014, Mecredy met with administrators from the Honors College and put together a class that is centered around the concept of experiential learning. Nine students enrolled in the class during the spring semester of 2015. They learned about social justice issues and conservation challenges of hunting, poaching and trafficking of wildlife. The class conducted research, explored opportunities, and worked on projects to raise awareness of illegal elephant poaching. They used networking and social media tools to create educational materials and developed a plan for establishing a mascot conservation program at the UA.
“As a first step, the class made a lot of progress towards raising awareness,” Mecredy said. “They made posters and flyers, set up information tables at various events, held fundraisers, and posted selfies on social media. I think by far, the most sustainable project to develop out of the class was the student organization Tide For Tusks.”
Madeline Khuri, a student in the class (who along with Matthew Barrett and Madeline Karwich helped to organize the student group Tide For Tusks), will meet up with the other ambassadors of good will in Tanzania. “I am very interested in making an exploratory visit to Tanzania and would love to take part in this opportunity,” Khuri said. “As a student director and mentor, traveling to the site will be extremely useful to me in assisting other students in planning for their projects to be carried out in future classes.”
When asked about his role with the exploratory visit, Dr. John Latta said, “My goal as professor of record for this class is to increases its scope and its value to our community and to our students, from work in the public sphere to scientific research.” He continued by saying that he wants the students taking the class to have a chance to work on problems that have clear potential to be of practical use, so that students learn from effective, measurable projects. During his travel he would also like to explore volunteer opportunities to be sure that the class participation in Tanzania and in the UA classroom is of practical value, “I want to be sure we won’t simply be doing what other American college classes are doing, i.e. to make sure we can do something distinctly UA as our contribution to this project.”
Organized as a non-profit, 501 (c) 3, Tide For Tusks is dedicated to raising awareness for poaching and recognizes the urgent nature of the plight of the African elephant. The organization is working with students at the UA to establish a mascot conservation program. They want not only the 36,000 students and 6,000 faculty and staff, to be aware of the problems associated with elephant poaching, but also the tens of thousands of people in our community, and hundreds of thousands of alumni and supporters around the state and throughout the nation to know about this dire situation.
Money raised by the organization is split between conservation work in Africa and the scholarly research done at UA. Donations can be made at tidefortusks.org and they can also be found on Faceboook.
[email protected]
